Dubai begins to expel its economic demons

It is a strange, but telling, reaction: some commuters in Dubai are breathing a sigh of relief when they hit traffic jams.

“I rejoice when I grind to a halt,” says one businessman, who has watched with growing unease over the past year as vehicles disappeared from the roads as building activity fell silent and companies reduced the size of their workforces.

The gloom after the crash that followed Dubai’s period of petro-dollar and credit-driven growth is starting to clear, and residents have returned from the extended summer and Ramadan lull to a city that feels as though it is expelling its economic demons.