Hard Times

It’s worrying times here in Dubai. Forget Piers Morgan’s overblown and inflated picture of Dubai, the reality is: the recession is biting.

It’s hard to get a true picture of what is going on as the media is so relentlessly censored, and there are conflicting reports of thousands of visas getting cancelled each month, then new visas being started, then thousands of cars getting dumped at the airport as ex-pats abandon their 4 wheels of debt and flee the country.

From my own personal experience yes, there are swathes of people being made redundant. They tend to work in the property or construction sectors, unsurprisingly. Whilst I think it’s fair to say that in many parts of the world, no-one really saw this coming, it’s hard to see how Dubai didn’t. When you see the scale of construction, and the ridiculous prices (buying and renting) that I saw when I first arrived, it’s clear this could never be sustainable. I may have mentioned that we pay over 2000 english pounds a month for our one bedroom apartment – and you have to pay the full year’s rent up front! I shudder when I think what that would get me in Manchester. A penthouse in Number One Deansgate…?!

Anyway, I digress. My point is, it’s worrying here. The rent is paid up until the end of June so there isn’t that to worry about (one advantage of the ludicrous rental system). At that point I’d have to seriously question stumping up two checks for 12.5k each. I shall keep you posted….