UAE Public Debt Unit formed On September 7, the UAE announced the creation of a public debt unit in order to manage the country’s debt. In February, Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated the UAE’s total debt at some $142 billion — $80 billion of which is foreign owned — while also estimating that $24 billion of the total debt is due by the end of 2009. The public debt unit is one of three parts of the Public Debt Management Office, which will answer to the finance minister. The unit will be responsible for strategizing, planning and implementing plans to solve the emirates’ finance problems, which may eventually lead to formal debt and risk-management policies, including a cap on public debt. Dubai recovery not until after 2010 A recent JP Morgan Chase study says that economic recovery will be impossible for the UAE in 2010 because of slow private
