Government prepares to help Dubai real estate market

November 11, 2008 by OPPE News

Dubai’s real estate market could get government help to boost confidence if the sector starts to slow down, it has been revealed.

Mohamed Alabbar, a member of the emirate’s executive council, told the World Economic Forum a high-level committee was closely monitoring the property market.

New initiatives could appear if Dubai starts to feel the pinch of a slowdown severely hitting other regions, he said.

He announced the economy as a whole would get an AED120 billion injection to bolster liquidity.

Mr Alabbar, also chairman of Emaar Properties, was speaking at the Forum’s global agenda summit.

He said:

“The UAE has been one of the most alert economies in the region, and one of the first movers to address the crisis.

“We did not adopt a wait-and-watch attitude. We faced the challenge with an alert mind and open heart.”

He added the government had also announced a guarantee on customer bank deposits in Dubai.

Greater transparency in the economy and real estate sector and other confidence-building measures are expected in future.

This would prompt the government to “revisit Dubai’s development pipeline to ensure demand remains robust”, Mr Alabbar said.