UAE immune from subprime crisis

The UAE property market will not be affected by the US mortgage crisis, said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The vice-president ruled out the ability of any negative effect on the property market in the UAE, adding: "It will affect many countries, but it will not affect us. We have made arrangements to let our property market to avoid any such negative impacts."

He also noticed that the UAE will not drop its currency's peg to the US dollar "for now", but approved the issue was being studied by a committee that will report to him soon.

"Up to now we are still with the dollar. Dropping the dollar peg is not easy. However, a committee is studying the benefits of staying with the peg or not," Shaikh Mohammad told UAE media officials accompanying onboard a plane from Beijing to Shanghai.

Shaikh Mohammad left the Chinese capital yesterday after a meeting with the mayor of Beijing and a tour of the Great Wall