Where is Dubai’s $10bn bond? The question has been making the rounds in Dubai business circles, as bankers and executives wonder when the emirate will bite the bullet and ask the United Arab Emirates central bank – which is bankrolled by Abu Dhabi – for the second tranche of a $20bn bail-out agreed earlier this year.

Bankers had been expecting the funds, structured as a Dubai five-year bond issue to which the central bank subscribes, to be disbursed in the summer, and help ease jitters about Dubai’s ability to repay some of its debt. It is estimated that $50bn (€34bn, £31bn) of debt comes due over the next three years.