dubai debt move 'carefully planned' - smh

Dubai debt move 'carefully planned': top officialNovember 27, 2009 - 7:29AM
Dubai's move to suspend payments on its Dubai World conglomerate's debt was "carefully planned" and done in full knowledge of how the markets would react, the chairman of the Supreme Fiscal Committee said on Thursday.

"Our intervention in Dubai World was carefully planned and reflects its specific financial position," Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said in a statement.

"The government is spearheading the restructuring of this commercial operation in the full knowledge of how the markets would react. We understand the concerns of the market and the creditors in particular.

"However we have had to intervene because of the need to take decisive action to address its particular debt burden."

However, Sheikh Ahmed insisted that "unprecedented growth, in Dubai and across the (United Arab Emirates), over the past decade has helped lay the foundation for what is now a broad-based sustainable economy beyond just natural resources."