Abu Dhabi’s Government Agreed to Buy Assets Valued at 16.8 Billion

Government Agreed to Buy Assets Valued at 16.8 Billion 

The government will purchase 760 three-bedroom to five- bedroom homes in the Al Raha Beach development and retire 5 billion dirhams of debt related to infrastructure on Yas Island,Aldar said in a statement today. It will also buy 5.7 billion dirhams of assets in Abu Dhabi’s city center, known as the Central Market, and finance the completion of the district’s redevelopment.
Developers in the United Arab Emirates are struggling to pay down debts after the credit crisis caused property values to plummet and drove speculators out of the market. The statement was released after the Abu Dhabi market closed. Aldar gained 3.7 percent to 84 fils today, the biggest gain in about two months. The shares have fallen 31 percent in the past six months, while the Bloomberg EMEA Real Estate Indexhas lost 19 percent.
“This will have a positive sentiment in the market, leading investors to buy the stock aggressively,” said Musa Haddad, head trader at National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC’s asset management group said.