A note issued by the DIFC’s Economics Unit showed GDP created by Dubai’s tax-free financial district was US$2.8bn in 2008, an increase of almost 50% from 2007.
DIFC said the growth reflected the “substantial expansion of banking, financial and related activities in DIFC in 2008 and the large influx of new companies that were attracted by the region’s growth prospects.”
However, the figures incorporate only a small period of the global financial crisis that began to take hold in late summer 2008 and did not fully hit the Middle East – particularly Dubai – until many months later.
Earlier this month, the Nasdaq Dubai-listed investment arm of the DIFC reported a net loss of US$562m in 2009 on the back of property and other investment write-downs.
Dubai Investments’ 2009 loss comes at a time when the level of debt used to sustain Dubai’s growth is the focus of continuing concern. Dubai World, another government-owned investment company, hit the headlines late last year when it was forced to restructure debts of US$25bn. In later emerged Dubai’s national debt is some US$109bn.
