Inflation and food security pressures<\/p>\n
However, some sectors have begun to face pressure. Hospitality businesses dependent on tourism, restaurants and companies linked to shipping and logistics were among those identified as vulnerable.<\/p>\n
Al Ghurair and Jamal Saleh, the director general of UBF, shared estimates that inflation could rise to around 3 per cent by the end of the year, due to higher fuel, freight and import costs.<\/p>\n
Products moved by air had become particularly expensive, they said, pointing to rising food import prices as an example.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the crisis has renewed discussions around food security and local production.<\/p>\n
Officials said policymakers were becoming more open to changing regulations to support domestic agriculture and manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that is tabooed in the past, as long as it serves local production, self-sufficiency, we will break those rules,\u201d said Al Ghurair.<\/p>\n
Property market slowdown discussed<\/p>\n
Executives also addressed concerns around Dubai\u2019s property market after years of rapid growth. While they said mortgage defaults remained below 1 per cent, they acknowledged that buyers had slowed purchases amid expectations prices could soften.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have slowed down buying their properties,\u201d said Al Ghurair.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have slowed down because they think, okay, maybe I can wait. Price will come down,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Strait of Hormuz remains a concern<\/p>\n
Bankers said the possibility of disruption to the Strait of Hormuz had become a more serious planning scenario for businesses and regulators.<\/p>\n
He said the UAE was increasingly looking at alternatives through Fujairah and the Arabian Sea, as well as future rail and logistics links.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will find solution,\u201d said Al Ghurair.<\/p>\n
Despite concerns over regional instability, Al Ghurair said he remains optimistic about the UAE\u2019s future, arguing that the country has repeatedly emerged stronger from past crises. \u201cThey all bounce back better,\u201d he said, adding that difficult periods often force governments and businesses to rethink regulations, logistics systems and infrastructure in ways that ultimately improve competitiveness and attract more investment. <\/p>\n
Al Ghurair said many residents in the UAE \u201ctake it for granted\u201d how secure daily life feels in the country. \u201cWe want to make UAE a home for everybody, for talented people to live and work in harmony,\u201d he said, while urging residents and businesses not to leave during uncertain times. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t pack up and go, please. You\u2019ll regret it if you pack up and go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inflation and food security pressures However, some sectors have begun to face pressure. Hospitality businesses dependent on tourism,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,182440,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-584442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uae-banks","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}