Nakheel to delay $3bn mall expansion

Many papers today, including The National, picked up a Reuters story about Nakheel's plans to push back its $3-billion mall expansion plan by a year. The company said last April that it would develop five shopping malls in the UAE, but recently thought better of it. According to a statement from Nakheel: "We have the responsibility to adjust our short term business plans to accommodate the current global environment; our short-term business model is aligned to meet market demand."

Any chance this has something to do with last week's request by the Dubai Shopping Malls Group to slow the march of Dubai malls after retail in the city dipped by 25 per cent since the same quarter last year? Watch this space to find out.