Dubai In The Fog, United Arab Emirates

Dubai's property market experienced a major downturn in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the slowing economic climate. Mohammed al-Abbar, Chief Executive Officer of Emaar told the international press in December 2008 that Emaar had credits of $70 billion and the state of Dubai additional $10 billion while holding estimated $350 billion in real estate assets. By early 2009, the situation had worsened with the global economic crisis taking a heavy toll on property values, construction and employment. As of February 2009 Dubai's foreign debt was estimated at approximately $80 billion, although this is a tiny fraction of the sovereign debt worldwide.
A City Mayors survey rated Dubai as 44th among the world's best financial cities, while another report by City Mayors indicated that Dubai was the world's 33rd richest city, in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). Dubai is also an international financial centre and has been ranked 37th within the top 50 global financial cities as surveyed by the Mastercard Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index (2007), and 1st within the Middle East.