It seems that Wednesday’s surprise decision by the Government of Dubai to ask for a debt standstill agreement at Dubai World — and by association its property arm Nakheel — did not shock everyone.
Some people were preparing for a fall in Nakheel Development’s sukuk.
From Data Explorers:
What that graphic shows is that in the middle of November, short sellers started to increase their borrowing until it reached 60 per cent of the lendable inventory.
Of course, it could all be coincidence. And note the following caveat: Data Explorers only ever saw 4 per cent of the issue size. So questions could be asked about how representative this data is.
Still, we thought it was interesting.
Related links:
The emirate has a lot of explaining to do – FT
London unnerved by Dubai debt woes – FT
Dubai World to address investors – FT