Merger of Dubai stock exchanges too vital to ignore

It’s that time of year when projects are shelved in this part of the world. The summer is with us in full intensity, people are leaving for holidays and the holy month of Ramadan approaches. All are disincentives for implementing ambitious strategies.

We’ve seen it in a number of areas recently. The great wave of initial public offerings (IPOs) forecast for the first half of the year has not materialised and, if it does happen at all, will have to wait until the autumn.

That is as much to do with the state of global stock markets as it is local climatic considerations, but it’s part of a trend: don’t rush into it now; take a break and think again later in the year.