Until last month, a billboard at one of Dubai’s busiest roundabouts featured one photo, of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The new billboard says “Long live our Emirates union” and also shows United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nayhan.
Dubai’s financial woes have tamed the once-independent emirate and forced it closer to Abu Dhabi, which holds 90 percent of the U.A.E.’s oil. Sheikh Mohammed last week demoted three business aides and fired one. All had been pivotal in the debt-fueled expansion of past years, requiring Dubai’s rescue with a $10-billion loan from the U.A.E. central bank.
The global financial crisis that swept into Dubai last year not only put an end to a construction boom that saddled it with $80 billion of debt. It may also mark a turning point in the U.A.E.’s history toward a stronger central state, which investors say will make Dubai a more attractive destination by bolstering its creditworthiness.
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