Dubai feels the economic crisis
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
In recent years, a shining city grew in the desert of Dubai on -- and even off -- the Gulf coast. An island shaped like a palm tree was built for hotels, homes and entertainment.
In October of last year the same developer announced plans for the world's tallest building yet. But the economic downturn soon forced the Nakheel company to suspend those plans.
Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, a thirty-eight year old federation of seven territories ruled by emirs. But, unlike its neighbor Abu Dhabi, oil has not fueled Dubai's growth. Oil is only six percent of its economy. Instead, the property and service industries have led its expansion.
Now Dubai finds itself in financial pain. And its reaction has some investors worried.
Last week, Dubai's largest investment company called for a six-month delay in paying some of its debts. Dubai World Group is seeking to renegotiate termson twenty-six billion dollars in debt. All of it is linked to Nakheel, which is part of Dubai World.
The government owns Dubai World and will take control of its restructuring. But Dubai's finance chief said the government does not guarantee its debt.
Dubai World owes creditors a total of sixty billion dollars. The company is not an investmentvehicle for the government like a sovereign wealth fund. It is a holding company for businesses in land development, port operations, energy and financial services. The group has used borrowed money for economic development.
Ghiyath Nakshbendi of American University in Washington notes that the problems are linked to a worldwide collapse in real estate prices.
GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: "Emerging markets are as victim to the world meltdown as any other economy and there are no exceptions."
He expects the debt restructuring to be successful. He says Dubai and its leaders have too much to lose to let creditors -- like banks in Britain -- suffer losses.
Still, last week's announcement was a surprise. Now Dubai World is faced with selling properties at heavy losses to raise money. Some experts question how willing Abu Dhabi will be to rescue Dubai. Their relationship is sometimes tense.
Ghiyath Nakshbendi says Dubai World will have to change its ways.
GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: "I think Dubai went a little bit too fast and they borrowed too much money in a very short period of time."
Of course, Dubai was not alone in gathering debt during the easy credit years. There are worries that the crisis could be the first of more to come in other parts of the world.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
译：
迪拜陷入经济危机
这里是美国之声(VOA)慢速英语经济报道。
近几年来，一座现代化的城市-迪拜，在海湾附近崛起了。这个形状像棕榈树的小岛上建起了酒店，住宅和娱乐设施。
去年10月份，同一个开发商宣布了建造世界上最高建筑的计划。但是经济下滑很快迫使棕榈岛集团(Nakheel)暂停了他们的计划。
迪拜是阿联酋的一员，阿联酋是一个由七个国家组成，有着三十八年历史的联盟，其遵循穆斯林酋长的领导。但是，和邻国阿布扎比不同的是，石油并不是迪拜经济增长的拉动力，石油仅占其经济的6%。相反，房地产和服务行业拉动着迪拜经济的增长。
现在，迪拜陷入了经济危机，而它对此的反应也令一些投资者感到担忧。
上周，迪拜最大的投资公司要求延迟六个月时间偿还某些债务。迪拜世界集团正在寻求重新谈判债务中涉及260亿美金的一些项目，这些项目都与迪拜世界集团下属公司棕榈岛集团(Nakheel)相有关。
迪拜世界集团归政府所有，政府也将控制它的重组。不过迪拜财务部长表示，政府并不担保集团的债务偿付。
迪拜世界集团欠债高达600亿美金。对于政府而言，它并不像财富基金一样是一种投资媒介，而是一个控股公司。公司涉及土地开发，港口运营，能源和金融服务等。该集团使用借贷的资金进行商业发展。
华盛顿美国大学的盖亚斯.纳克什本迪(Ghiyash Nakshbendi)指出：迪拜的经济危机问题和世界房地产经济泡沫息息相关。
盖亚斯说：“新兴市场和和其他经济体一样，都是世界金融危机的受害者，它们无一幸免。”
他期望迪拜世界集团的债务重组能够取得成功，并指出迪拜和它的领导者们不能再让它的债权者们，如英国的一些银行，再蒙受损失了。
然而，上周迪拜的声明很是出人意料。现在迪拜世界集团正面临着在严重亏损的情况下出售财产以筹集资金。一些专家对于邻国阿布扎比是否会愿意拯救迪拜发出质疑，毕竟两国关系有时会比较紧张。
盖亚斯指出，迪拜世界集团将不得不改变其发展方式，并说：“我认为迪拜发展的有点太快了，它短时间内借贷了太多的资金。”
当然，迪拜并不是唯一一个在借贷放松时期借贷的国家。有人担忧，这种危机是否会在世界各地接踵发生。
本文来自美国之声慢速英语，作者马里奥.瑞特(Mario Ritter)。我是史蒂夫.恩贝尔(Steve Ember)。
