Unemployed expats flee Dubai to avoid jail
Like rats abandoning a sinking ship, the Dubai exodus continues apace, much to the delight of the doom-mongering media which is stuffed with stories of expats streaming en masse back to their countries. This story from Digital Journal explores the reasons behind the stats and some unexpected side effects. The recent spate of redundancies triggered [...]
Burj Dubai reaches maximum height
Already the world’s tallest building, or structure of any description for that matter, the Burj Dubai has now quietly reached its maximum height of 818 metres (826 metres if counted from the lower entrance to the aircraft beacon), according to Skyscrapernews.com. Unfortunately, with Barack Obama‘s inauguration and the global recession, no one seems to have [...]
Work stops on Nakheel Harbour and Tower for a year
Further evidence of the effects of the global recession on Dubai comes in the form of the announcement by Nakheel, Dubai’s state owned property development giant, that work on the 1000 metre high Nakheel Harbour and Tower has been suspended for a year. The Tower, which formed the centrepiece of the $38 billion (140 billion [...]
Dubai scales down growth and records its first budget deficit
As you are no doubt aware, the global recession is hitting Dubai hard. Even the relentlessly optimistic and upbeat Dubai Government is being forced to acknowledge this as it revises it growth forecasts till 2015 downwards from 11 percent per year to 4-6 percent per year in view of the global economic crisis. When the [...]
Dubai aiming to spend its way out of recession
True to form, Dubai is planning to spend its way out of the continuing economic crisis caused by the global recession, according to the FT. Dubai’s service based economy has been hit particularly hard by the prevailing economic situation and ratings agencies are concerned that Dubai may face problems refinancing its debts in the current [...]