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DUBAI / Reuters
The government of Dubai is expected to raise the money needed to extend the city’s metro with an initial loan of roughly $500 million that will later be followed by loans guaranteed by export credit agencies (ECAs), banking sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The department of finance will approach banks over the next couple of weeks requesting a loan with a maturity of five years, half the duration of the loan package which the government had previously discussed with lenders and ECAs, said the sources. When the government contacted banks on the financing of the metro extension last year, it asked for $2.8 billion of funding, which would have included ECA-backed loans with 18-year tenors and a 10-year commercial loan.