VOA慢速英语2009年-Economics Report - Dubai Feels the Fin

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

In recent years, a shining city grew in the desert of Dubai on -- and even off -- the Gulf¹ coast. An island shaped like a palm tree was built for hotels, homes and entertainment.

In October of last year the same developer announced plans for the world's tallest building yet. But the economic downturn soon forced the Nakheel company to suspend those plans.

Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates, a thirty-eight year old federation² of seven territories ruled by emirs. But, unlike its neighbor Abu Dhabi, oil has not fueled Dubai's growth. Oil is only six percent of its economy. Instead, the property and service industries have led its expansion.

Now Dubai finds itself in financial pain. And its reaction has some investors³ worried.

Last week, Dubai's largest investment company called for a six-month delay in paying some of its debts. Dubai World Group is seeking to renegotiate terms on twenty-six billion dollars in debt. All of it is linked to Nakheel, which is part of Dubai World.

The government owns Dubai World and will take control of its restructuring. But Dubai's finance chief said the government does not guarantee its debt.

Dubai World owes creditors⁴ a total of sixty billion dollars. The company is not an investment vehicle for the government like a sovereign wealth fund. It is a holding company for businesses in land development, port operations, energy and financial services. The group has used borrowed money for economic development.

Ghiyath Nakshbendi of American University in Washington notes that the problems are linked to a worldwide collapse⁵ in real estate prices.

GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: "Emerging markets are as victim to the world meltdown as any other economy and there are no exceptions."

He expects the debt restructuring to be successful. He says Dubai and its leaders have too much to lose to let creditors -- like banks in Britain -- suffer losses.

Still, last week's announcement was a surprise. Now Dubai World is faced with selling properties at heavy losses to raise money. Some experts question how willing Abu Dhabi will be to rescue Dubai. Their relationship is sometimes tense.

Ghiyath Nakshbendi says Dubai World will have to change its ways.

GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: "I think Dubai went a little bit too fast and they borrowed too much money in a very short period of time."

Of course, Dubai was not alone in gathering⁶ debt during the easy credit years. There are worries that the crisis could be the first of more to come in other parts of the world.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.
 

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。