Asset prices in Dubai are forecast to plummet up to 70 percent from to last year's high within the next six months. Moody's estimates that Dubai's debt totals around US$100 billion, with around $25 billion insolvent. State-owned investment firm Dubai World has said it will not sell off its assets at rock-bottom prices simply to repay its debts, but if the financial situation worsens, it may have no other choice.

Bloomberg on Monday forecast that Dubai will have to abandon its dream of becoming the financial hub of the Middle East if neighbor Abu Dhabi ends up saving the cash-strapped sheikdom. Not only has Dubai suffered tremendous damage to its financial credibility, but Abu Dhabi will seek to have a significant say in financial matters as a precondition to aid.

The Times of London reports that Abu Dhabi already demanded a stake in Emirates Airlines, Dubai's state-owned carrier, in return for financial support years ago. Ian Hay Davison, former chief of the Dubai Financial Services Authority, said, "Dubai will keep its role as a regional center of services in the Middle East, but has come very far from its goal of becoming a financial center like New York."