President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has ordered the debts of 6,830 Emiratis valued at Dh 2 billion to be settled. The order will cover Emirati citizens with limited income whose loans do not exceed Dh1 million. The order will cover settled cases and those pending a court ruling. In cases in which rulings have already been issued, the debt will be settled as per the repayment schedule specified by the courts. Prison Emiratis who are in prison will be released while the debt is being settled. The debts will be settled through a fund with a capital of Dh 10 billion that was set up by orders previously issued by Shaikh Khalifa. The fund aims to settle the loans of Emiratis with limited income through a mechanism that will see in-debt Emiratis pay 25 per cent of their monthly salary. The mechanism was implemented through the fund’s coordination with banks. In-debt Emiratis will also have to sign an undertaking stipulating that they may not apply for another loan until the current ones have been settled. Fund The fund will examine statements provided by the banks that provided the loans, and then will settle a portion of the debt before adopting the aforementioned mechanism in which in-debt Emiratis will repay the loan with 25 per cent of their monthly salaries. Interest accumulated on the loan will be excluded from payment. The order to settle the debts was made after a proposal was forwarded to Shaikh Khalifa by the Higher Committee of the fund, which is chaired by Ahmad Juma Al Za’abi, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs. The committee includes members from the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Abu Dhabi Ruler’s Court, Abu Dhabi Department of Finance, UAE Central Bank, and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Justice. The meeting has conducted various meetings discussing the value of debts, specifying cases that require the assistance, and options available for settling the debts.