AL HABTOOR Leighton Group said getting paid in Dubai remains “challenging” as the financial crisis curtails lending. “Definitely payment, primarily in Dubai, has been very challenging,” managing director David Savage said.

“We continue to work with our partners, clients, subcontractors and suppliers to manage the situation, but I think at the moment liquidity generally is very challenging.”
Construction companies in Dubai have been hit by a lack of financing, causing project cancellations and payment delays.
The country’s central bank should either buy securities from local banks to help ease liquidity in the economy or loosen a cap on lending, said Michael Tomalin, chief executive officer of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the country’s second-biggest bank. 
Meanwhile, Ziad Makhzoumi, chief financial officer of Arabtec Holding, said the company is collecting payments, but not “as quickly as we did before.” Arabtec, the UAE’s biggest construction firm, said in May it was owed $980 million, largely by Dubai developers.
Al Habtoor Leighton, owned by Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group and Leighton Holdings of Australia, values its order book at almost Dh26 billion ($7 billion), Savage said. He declined to provide figures for outstanding amounts.
“With the exception of Dubai, we have more tenders than we have had in quite a while,” Savage said. “Dubai is certainly challenging for everybody, but in other parts of the region it’s business as usual.”