Money can't buy success in Dubai
If there is one state in the world which confirms the opinion that you can't buy success, at this moment in time anyways, it would have to be Dubai. Despite the fact that the Dubai economy has literally risen from nothing to become one of the former hotspots of the worldwide investment market this was done against a backdrop of ever-growing debt. The ruling State family have built up around $80 billion in debt and over the last few days we have seen a request to suspend debt repayments in the short term.
Those who were sceptical of Dubai from day one always highlighted the ever-growing debt which was being used to incentivise overseas investors and overseas businesses to Dubai. While there's no doubt it has worked to a certain point, when the going got tough this left the Dubai state authorities short of cash and short of income. The tax situation in Dubai is more favourable than many other countries around the world and while the authorities would likely have introduced more taxation in the future (and probably will), this was not a massive income stream in the short term.
Whether or not the Dubai authorities are "holed below the waterline" is debatable but initial concerns about the ever-growing debt used to fund the growth in Dubai have now come to fruition.
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