The government of Dubai yesterday sought to reassure increasingly nervous real estate investors by announcing that it is to build the world’s tallest towerblock as part of a Dh140bn ($38bn) project. The building, if completed, will be higher than the Burj Dubai, the current record holder.

At the same time the Dubai administration, led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Matkoum, the ruler of the second largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, moved to merge the emirate’s two largest mortgage providers.