I have a personal loan and four credit cards with two different banks. Since April, my salary of Dh5,305 has been reduced by 50 per cent because of the pandemic and I am no longer able to pay my liabilities.
My salary is transferred to my bank and it automatically deducts my personal loan repayment of Dh2,295, which left me with just Dh357.50 to live on and pay my other debts after my salary was reduced.
Thankfully, my bank recently approved a payment holiday on my personal loan and my instalments resume again in October. This is a relief, but I still don’t have enough to pay the remainder of my liabilities, send money home to my family and pay for my daily expenses.
My debts are:
- Personal loan: Dh70,126 (Dh2,295 monthly instalment)
- Credit card 1: Dh4,759.53 (Dh1,336.19 minimum payment)
- Credit card 2: Dh3,747.93 (Dh638.80 minimum payment)
- Credit card 3: Dh6,339.59 (Dh487 minimum payment)
- Credit card 4: Dh21,918.92 (Dh 937.67 minimum payment)
I have also requested the second bank to defer my payments for my other two credit cards, which I have not been able to make any payments towards since my salary was reduced in April.
They have rejected my request on the grounds that credit cards are not eligible for a payment holiday as they say it only applies to personal loans, home loans and car loans. I am now being harassed by their collections team and they are threatening to lodge a legal case against me.
I want to resume my monthly payments and do not want to run away from my liabilities, but I am unable to do so at the moment. I am also struggling to send money home to my family.
Is there a company or a bank that would offer me a debt consolidation for all my liabilities so I can reduce my monthly payments and continue supporting my family in the Philippines? GP, Dubai
Debt panellist 1: Phillip King, head of retail banking at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Over the past few months, the Covid-19 pandemic has continued to present challenges to the livelihood of individuals and families. Understandably, having your income reduced by 50 per cent must have been be a great financial setback, however, we commend your sense of accountability and commitment in meeting your financial obligations.
A number of banks offer consolidation loans so it may be worthwhile researching the best one for you and your personal circumstances.
Firstly, we advise you to proactively communicate your situation with your lenders. Provide the bank with proof of your salary reduction and emphasise that this has placed you in a very difficult situation, leaving you with no means to pay for basic necessities.
It would also be worthwhile to reiterate, in writing, that you intend to diligently meet your repayments and that you remain fully committed to clearing the outstanding dues.
It is in the bank's interest to mitigate any risks of default, so they may be more forthcoming in working out new repayment terms. Therefore, I urge you to request your bank for a debt restructuring or consolidation plan that will enable you to aggregate all your existing liabilities into a new loan with a longer tenure and lower financing rates.
This will help in substantially reducing your monthly instalment payments and allow you to service the loan with your lower salary.
Alongside liaising with your lenders, there is no better time than now to extensively review your budget and rethink your expenditures. Avoid spending any further on your cards and consider contacting any friends or family for temporary support as you weather these challenges and regain control over your situation.
It may also be helpful to explore new job opportunities that will allow you to meet your repayments every month. Understandably, this may be a difficult time to secure a new permanent job.
Debt panellist 2: Ambareen Musa, founder and chief executive of Souqalmal.com
Managing your financial commitments with just half of your regular income is going to be incredibly difficult. Unfortunately, there are many other UAE residents facing the same predicament during these challenging times. Qualifying for a payment holiday is going to be very helpful, but you will need some more support from your banks to manage your finances.
You must approach your credit card providers and request them to restructure your credit card debt. This can be done by converting your outstanding credit card balance into a fixed-interest, fixed-tenure loan. However, you must also request for this repayment arrangement to be brought into force once your original salary is reinstated.
This type of restructuring will help plug the financial drain being caused by heavy credit card interest rates and penalty fees, especially now that you're unable to even keep up with your minimum monthly payments. Approach the banks armed with proof of your reduced salary and current debt obligations.
Another option is to approach your primary lender to consolidate your personal loan with all the other credit card debt. Ideally, this would help reduce your interest payments and make the combined debt a lot more manageable. However, this may be a long shot since the bank would be taking a lot more risk by offering you this facility.
You should also look into your own financial resources to see if you can liquidate some savings or assets back home to relieve yourself of some of this financial stress. If you do have some readily accessible savings or some financial aid from your family and close relatives, you could use these funds to settle and close some of your credit card debts.
Alongside liaising with your lenders, there is no better time than now to extensively review your budget and rethink your expenditures.
Further, you could consider taking on some additional freelance or part-time work opportunities to supplement your current income, and free up some more cash to meet your debt repayments.
If all else fails, you could consider getting some pro bono legal help. The Philippine Consulate in Dubai and the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi both run free-of-charge legal aid clinics every month, where lawyers offer free counseling for Filipino expats dealing with various legal issues in the UAE, including debt-related matters.
You could also seek guidance on the financial insolvency option under the UAE's new laws, and whether this legal route is a sound option for you or not.
Debt panellist 3: Stuart Ritchie, chartered financial planner at AES International
You have done the best thing possible in requesting a payment holiday for your personal loan. This allows you to use the money you’ve freed up to pay your living expenses for the next few months.
Based on your current minimum payments, however, even your full salary would not be able to cover these. A consolidation loan, therefore, will be the greatest help as it will consolidate all you owe into one affordable payment.
A number of banks offer consolidation loans so it may be worthwhile researching the best one for you and your personal circumstances.
Following this, take time to address your underlying spending issues. Based on your salary, you are struggling to afford all the repayments, send money home and cover your everyday expenses. See where you can cut back on your spending in order to alleviate some of the financial pressure you’re feeling right now.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
The%20specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%204cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E261hp%20at%205%2C500rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E400Nm%20at%201%2C750-4%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E7-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E10.5L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C999%20(VX%20Luxury)%3B%20from%20Dh149%2C999%20(VX%20Black%20Gold)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
TO%20CATCH%20A%20KILLER
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDamian%20Szifron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Shailene%20Woodley%2C%20Ben%20Mendelsohn%2C%20Ralph%20Ineson%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
