His Excellency the Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammad Abu Hammour, during his visit to the General Budget Department on Thursday, 22/4/2010 stressed that the volume of public spending constitutes about 42% of GDP, which clearly indicates the increase of this spending. He indicated that the stimulation of economy is done by attracting more investments, mainly but not through increasing the pace of public spending at rapid rates. His Excellency stated that the 2011 budget will be prepared in a new manner which enables the achievement of maximum benefit of advantages of the budget-oriented results, and so project outputs will be linked to our national priorities and capital spending priorities will be defined through the Council of Ministers and the seven ministerial committees of the Council, and therefore drawing up policies and setting priorities with respect to capital expenditures will be at the highest levels with the best benefit on the national economy in general. His Excellency explained that the budget deficit is one of the main headlines that require serious and effective actions so as not to repeat the unprecedented deficit that we have seen in 2009, so the Ministry of Finance took a number of actions that flow toward the reduction and rationalization of expenditure on both sides (current and capital), including stopping the appointments with the exception of the Ministries of Health and the Ministry of Education and stopping the purchase of furniture and vehicles, and reducing current expenditures by not less than (20%) of the operating expenses and developing appropriate mechanisms for the use of government cars and phones and reducing travel expenses and other measures. His Excellency Dr. Abu Hammour met the staff of the General Budget Department as an introduction to a series of meetings to be held with various departments and units affiliated with the Minister of Finance to promote their performance and explore their needs which have a positive impact on facilitating and simplifying services provided by these entities for citizens and for other official authorities.