A leading Dubai official said yesterday that the emirate was not in negotiation with Abu Dhabi to renegotiate US$20 billion in debt due for repayment next year.
“Dubai companies are doing well and can take care of their own debt,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Dubai’s supreme fiscal committee, was quoted by Reuters as saying yesterday.
The two emirates were not holding discussions to refinance the debt, he was quoted as saying.
The debt relates to US$10 billion from the Central Bank and a further $10 billion from National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Al Hilal Bank. It was lent to Dubai in 2009 amid a debt crisis that prompted Dubai World, the flagship Dubai Government-controlled conglomerate, to request a sixth month payment standstill agreement with its creditors.
Dubai World's debt restructuring was completed in 2011 and the emirate's economy has since revived aided by robust growth in trade, transport, tourism and, more recently the property market.
Still, the IMF said in a report in July that Dubai’s debt remained “substantial” at US$142 billion, about 102 per cent of GDP. Around $60bn of debt linked to Dubai government-related companies would fall due between this year and 2017, it said.
tarnold@thenational.ae
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Company profile
Name: Khodar
Based: Cairo and Alexandria, in Egypt
Founders: Ayman Hamza, Yasser Eidrous and Amr El Sheikh
Sector: agriculture technology
Funding: $500,000
Investors: Saudi Arabia’s Revival Lab and others
Employees: 35
AL BOOM
Director:Assad Al Waslati
Starring: Omar Al Mulla, Badr Hakami and Rehab Al Attar
Streaming on: ADtv
Rating: 3.5/5
Tales of Yusuf Tadros
Adel Esmat (translated by Mandy McClure)
Hoopoe
Sweet Tooth
Creator: Jim Mickle
Starring: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen
Rating: 2.5/5
Traces of Enayat
Author: Iman Mersal
Publisher: And Other Stories
Pages: 240
In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.
There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.
More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.
The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
More on Quran memorisation:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)