Dubai plans safe, says ICD chief

|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai’s investment plans are not threatened by the situation stemming from the fall in oil prices and its economic impact, Mohammad al-Shaibani, chief executive of state-owned Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), asserted.

Although energy is a key determinant of business confidence, as far as Dubai is concerned, oil accounts for only 2 percent of the emirate’s economy, he pointed out.

“There won’t be a lot of shift in terms of strategy,” Shaibani told a media round table. “The growth in the country and in the income is (through) services and is more or less enough to support the planned budget.”

Dubai’s Department of Finance does not have any immediate plans to raise debt and the effort would be keep spending within affordable limits, he said.

But the senior government functionary agreed that the country’s banks could be affected by the phenomenon of business owners fleeing, leaving behind huge debts. The banks may struggle to expand conventional revenue streams next year, he said.

Banks are reportedly working together to deal with ‘skips’ by small business owners in distress. UAE Banks Federation chief Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair had the other day estimated such defaults to be worth $1.4 billion already.