Crunch time is approaching for Dubai World as the government is nearing a decision on how much money it can apportion to deal with the holding company’s estimated $22bn debt pile, most of which is held by one of its subsidiaries, the developer Nakheel.

The Dubai Financial Support Fund, which oversees the $10bn in bail-out loans extended by the United Arab Emirates central bank in February, is expected to make a recommendation either this week or next week on the holding company’s request for billions of US dollars to aid its debt restructuring plan.