Dubai ponders $10 billion bond sale

Dubai is considering two dates this year to issue another $10 billion of bonds, a government executive said on Sunday, as the emirate seeks to raise more funds to support state-linked companies.┬á Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saaed Al Maktoum, the head of a five-member Dubai government committee responsible for distributing the funds, said on Sunday the government was deciding between a "couple of dates" for a second bond sale, both before the end of the year. Dubai launched a $20 billion bond program in February, issuing the first half to the UAE central bank, and has since given more than $5 billion in loans to firms struggling to meet debt and other financial obligations amid a real estate downturn. Residential real estate prices in Dubai are set to fall almost 40 percent this year, according to a ReutersÔÇÖ poll.┬á  Dubai is one of seven emirates in the UAE federation, and derives only about 3 percent of its GDP from oil. It has faced pressure from depressed tourist visits, retail sales and trade flows.The global financial crisis and a collapse in oil prices brought an end to the Gulf region's six-year economic boom, leading to scores of expansion project cancellations and thousands of job cuts. Last week, Sheikh had said Dubai would not give the names of the firms receiving support from the first bond proceeds, although the key beneficiaries were real estate companies in which the Dubai government holds some ownership stake.  "If I was to name them all we would be here for hours and I wouldn't want to name a few and forget others," Sheikh Ahmed told reporters.