Dubai could offer a stake sale in its most prized asset – Emirates Airline – under plans to reduce the emirate’s debt, the director general of the Dubai Ruler’s Court is reported as saying.
“The possibility of offering a stake in Emirates Airlines to the public is always there and is being studied and considered,” Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani told a press conference, reported by Dow Jones.
However, he said offering such stakes in “solid commercial companies” like Emirates is “not always useful,” according to the newswire.
Emirates Airline is the Middle East’s largest and most high profile carrier. The company’s first half net profit increased four times to AED3.4bn ($926m) compared to the same period in 2009.
Al Shaibani is reported to have said Dubai’s sovereign debt currently stands at about $30bn and that the government is “working on bringing that debt down.”
“Debt of other government owned and related companies always vary and very much under control,” Dow Jones quoted him as saying.