DUBAI, June 26, (RTRS): Dubai’s ruler said the emirate would go forward with all development projects within a year in an interview with CNN broadcast on Friday, after billions of dollars worth of projects were cancelled in the wake of the global financial downturn.
“Everything we started, we are going to finish. Maybe some projects that we are thinking of, or in the books, might be delayed for 6 months, 8 months, 1 year, but the rest is going forward,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said.
The economy of the United Arab Emirates, the world’s third largest oil exporter and to which Dubai belongs, is expected to see the slowest growth in the Gulf region this year, with banks heavily exposed to a $23.5 billion restructuring of debt-laden state conglomerate Dubai World.
Asked whether Dubai needed additional external support to proceed with current restructuring, Sheikh Mohammed said: “I’m not worried about the company, the company have got the wealth.”
Sheikh Mohammed, also vice president and prime minister of the UAE federation, did not say which company or projects he was referring to in the transcript provided to Reuters.
Sheikh Mohammed also said rejoining a planned Gulf monetary union was not on the cards. “The euro is in trouble and we thought of the Gulf currency and we said, well the UAE said ‘not yet’ and I think they are right, until we are sure,” he said.
The UAE quit the plan to launch a single currency in the world’s largest crude exporting region last year, after losing its bid to host a joint central bank to Saudi Arabia.