COUNTRY REPORT UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), forms a part of country-by-country analysis of developments and prospects in each of the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE). A regional overview, focusing on issues and common themes, will be released following the publication of all individual country reports. As the UAE economy makes its way out of a mild recession caused by the global crisis, the key short-term challenge is to preserve financial stability while laying the basis for the resumption of sustained growth. Vulnerabilities remain in the corporate and banking sectors while real estate has undergone severe price corrections and construction has slumped as almost half of the large public or quasi-public sector projects have been canceled or are on hold.