When Delta Two, the Qatar-backed fund, this month abruptly abandoned its bid for J Sainsbury, the UK supermarket company, partly blaming the deterioration in credit markets, the move showed the Gulf may not be as insulated from the credit squeeze as it claims.
Until then, the most visible impact on the Gulf of the international financial turmoil was the postponement of some bond issues by banks, and expectations that a few of the larger infrastructure projects would be delayed as foreign bankers become more reluctant to provide long-term finance.
