Gulf borrowers pay price for Greece’s debt problems

* username: rupertbu

Debt troubles in Greece and southern Europe have triggered a retreat by investors from global emerging markets, pushing up borrowing costs around the Gulf even as the region tries to recover from the turmoil that followed Dubai World’s restructuring announcement last November.

At the epicentre of the latest turmoil is Athens, where worries about whether the Greek government can meet its debt payments without socially destabilising budget cuts are roiling markets from Wall Street to Tokyo.

As economists and officials debate whether the EU should bail out the Greeks, concerns have spread to other heavily indebted members of the union, including Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland.