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| Arabia | |
| UAE economy solid despite debts: president | |
| 2009-12-02 | |
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Arab Emirates economy is in a good condition and will not slip due to the global financial crisis, the Gulf country's president said on Tuesday as Dubai's ruler said the global reaction showed a lack of understanding.
Sheikh Khalifa said that the national economy was showing signs of gradual growth in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile Gulf markets dropped for a second day running, taking little comfort from Dubai World's plan to restructure about $26 billion of debt and despite a statement by Sheikh Mohammed, who is also UAE vice president, prime minister and defense minister, insisting his city was "strong and persistent." Sheikh Mohammed also told reporters the global reaction had shown "a lack of understanding." Dubai stocks fell a further 3.6 percent and the Abu Dhabi bourse lost 5.6 percent on their second trading day since Dubai last week asked creditors of Dubai World and its property arm Nakheel for a six-month delay on debt repayments. The neighboring Gulf state of Qatar's bourse was also more than 8 percent lower. State-controlled Dubai World, which led the emirate's transformation into a regional hub for finance, investment and tourism, unveiled details late on Monday of its plan covering $26 billion of debt owed by its main property firms, Nakheel and Limitless. Global markets took a pounding when the Dubai news broke last week, though on Tuesday Asian and European stocks were up, following the lead from Wall Street overnight. The Dubai World group, whose total liabilities are estimated at nearly $60 billion, said the restructuring would exclude "financially stable" units such as Infinity World Holding, Istithmar World and Ports & Free Zone World, which includes DP World, Economic Zones World, P & Ferries and Jebel Ali Free Zone. | |
| Posted by:Fred |