Economy Watch – Dubai has just announced that it will ask for a six months ‘standstill’ in debt repayments for stated-owned holding company Dubai World, “as a first step towards restructuring”. Dubai World has $59 billion in outstanding debt, a large portion of the estimated $80 billion – $100 billion of debt that Dubai carries (148% – 200% of 2007 GDP), off the back of a real estate boom and building binge that the Middle East Capital of Bling carried out over the last decade.