IMF to visit Dubai in coming weeks

Washington : An International Monetary Fund team will visit Dubai in coming weeks to look closer at the economic impact of the Dubai World debt crisis and actions needed to resolve it, a senior IMF official said on Monday.
In an interview with Reuters, IMF Director for the Middle East and Central Asia Masood Ahmed said the visit was an opportunity for the IMF to update and conclude its 2009 assessment of the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai has been shaken by the debt troubles at government-owned Dubai World, which is currently meeting creditors to delay payment on $26 billion in debt, damaging the reputation of the Gulf Arab business hub.
Ahmed said the impact of the crisis appeared contained after a week of concerns among international investors that the crisis could spread. While those worries have subsided, the crisis is likely to have longer lasting effects for the UAE and some of its neighbors.
Ahmed said from now on lenders would likely demand more financial transparency from government-backed companies trying borrow money on their own standing and would also call for clarity on the nature of guarantees on quasi-sovereign debt.
"Lenders and investors will want to look at their balance sheets, their profit/loss statements, their liabilities and assets, in the way they would for any other borrower," Ahmed said on the sidelines of the Arab Global Forum, a meeting of the private-sector in Washington.
"In today's market place, companies that provide financial information should be able to attract capital on more attractive terms," he added.
Ahmed also said there will probably be a period of uncertainty around regulations and legal frameworks of sukuk, or Islamic bonds.