الرئيسية
(Releads with Moody's statement)
DUBAI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Dubai, which has restructured
$41 billion of debt related to its flagship conglomerate and has
about $10 billion due next year, faces refinancing risks related
to some upcoming maturities, ratings agency Moody's said on
Tuesday.
The Gulf Arab emirate has clawed its way back from the
depths of its 2009 debt crisis and seen an economic revival in
trade and tourism.
But looming obligations mean it is not yet out of the woods
and moves by Abu Dhabi firms to refinance their own upcoming
debt may crowd weaker Dubai entities out of the market, Moody's
said.
It said the main risk relates to three firms -- Dubai
Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), part of the ruler's
private holding company, DIFC Investments (DIFCI) and Jebel Ali
Free Zone (JAFZA) -- which have $3.8 billion due next year.
The rating agency anticipated less government support now
than Dubai World received two years ago.
The Dubai government, backed by wealthy Abu Dhabi, supported
Dubai World and its property arm Nakheel through the debt crisis
but has since made clear it will only deploy its limited
resources to back strategic entities.
"We believe it is DIFCI that is most likely to rely on
direct government support in conjunction with refinancing its
maturing debt obligations in 2012," Moody's said, noting the
Dubai government is directly exposed to DIFCI, which runs the
city's financial freezone, having given it two loans.
RESTRUCTURING BONDS?
The Financial Times said on Tuesday that Dubai had raised
the prospect of restructuring some bonds and is pursuing other
options to help state-related entities meet their obligations.
Those include raising $2 billion in funds from liquid local
banks, the newspaper said.
"We are working hard to meet all our liabilities but times
are different. We are more confident we can negotiate a
commercial deal with bondholders," a senior government official
is quoted as saying in the article.
In addition to the Dubai World restructuring, Dubai entities
have been refinancing loans over the past two years but there
has been no default on a public bond.
In December 2009, Abu Dhabi stepped in with a last-minute
lifeline to help Dubai avert an embarrassing default on a
Nakheel Islamic bond. It subsequently paid off Nakheel's 2010
and 2011 bonds in full upon maturity.
(Reporting by Stephen Mangan and Amran Abocar, Editing by
Sitaraman Shankar)