Blogs worried over recession-hit Gulf

Blogosphere is filled with stories of recession-hit Gulf countries and its impact on India. The most affected being Dubai, some of the blogs are commenting on how an economy built on "thin air" will crumble.

According to this blogger,u00a0India being the largest beneficiary of expatriate remittances, the crisis in the Gulf region will have a direct bearing on India. "The Gulf region accounts for only about a quarter of the country's remittance income," says the blogger.u00a0

"There are also noticeable differences in the way the different countries are responding to the situation. While Kuwait has said it will cut spending by 36 per cent this year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced plans to increase public spending by as much as 42 per cent," adds the blogger.

"The land of prosperity is now no longer an oasis of the Goddess of Wealth," says Asha Prasadu00a0

This bloggeru00a0takes a dig at Dubai's development model that is built upon "on thin air" with "crassness and tastelessness."

"There needs to be substance behind what you are trying to do. Dubai deserves all the misery it gets after exhibiting extreme vulgar shows of wealth for years and treating manual laboureres like slaves," adds the blogger.

A comment to the above post calls it "building castles in the sand."

"This type of development was never going to last, financially or otherwise, mostly people could not afford to live in this 'playground'. I am not being mean, that is really all it was. A real city, by contrast, would not have to install a waterslide or change its climactic conditions to attract residents to itself," says the comment.u00a0

"The crisis has taken its toll on Dubai's economy. The expatriate community, used to high living, suddenly found itself in the grip of the emirate's fading fortunes," says this blogger in a post on the impact of global economic crisis.

This bloggeru00a0quoting an 'eminent economist' says that despite the dreaded situation perpetuated by global slowdown, the Gulf countries would remain positive because they have "large dollar surpluses so they do not need investment inflows."

"It's not quite the end of the petro-dollar dream yet, but hundreds of Indians employed in the Gulf are forced to return home as the global recession hits the region. If the steady trickle of Gulf returnees turns into a tide, India could face a major crisis," says blogger named Layoff Tracker.u00a0

The blogger adds that Indian professionals, technicians and low-skilled workers are facing the axe. "Even those in sales and marketing have been hurt because they were mostly subcontracted by large companies which now look upon these staff as dispensable," adds the blogger.u00a0