Russia's prime minister has played down the possible global impact of a default by a major Dubai company, but analysts have warned that a large default could trigger a new crisis wave.
Dubai World, a state-controlled conglomerate with interests in financial services and property, asked on Wednesday for repayment of its $60 billion debt to be suspended for six months, triggering stock market declines in several countries.
However, Vladimir Putin, speaking after a Russian-French intergovernmental commission in Paris, said the global economy is on its way to a recovery.
"Fluctuations are possible, but the tendency towards an exit from the crisis will continue," he said.
He noted that in Russia, the impact of the news from Dubai has been felt, but has been limited.
"It had an impact on the Russian economy, the stock market went down slightly," he said.
However, Sam Barden, who heads SBI Markets Group, warned that there is a risk that the crisis could now take a new turn.
"What happened in Dubai could be the beginning of the second stage of the crisis, which could be more severe than what we have seen so far," he told RIA Novosti.
Barden, who has worked in the global financial markets for more than 15 years in Europe, also said that Russia and other CIS countries "could ultimately forge a good relationship" with the UAE, "based on cooperation in finance and commodities."
Ivan Fomenko, deputy chief of the trust management department at Absolut Bank, commented: "It could be said that the market has recuperated from the Dubai impact, but a bad aftertaste and an apprehension that similar incidents could happen in the future remains."
Russia's stock market remained largely unchanged on Friday, with the ruble-denominated MICEX closing 1.35% up, at 1286.04 points, and the dollar-denominated RTS up just 0.2% to 1369.6 points.
RAMBOUILLET, November 27 (RIA Novosti)
