A row has broken out between some of Lebanon’s biggest foreign creditors as the country slides towards a restructuring of its enormous debt burden. Ashmore, which has amassed a more than $1bn position in Lebanon’s short-dated bonds, is pushing for Beirut to repay a dollar bond that matures next month, despite the parlous state of the country’s finances, the Financial Times reported. The fund manager’s lobbying has drawn criticism from other big emerging-market investors, which boiled over at a client dinner hosted by Bank of America in London last month.

Dubai will take its port operator private after a dozen years to alleviate its debt burden and avoid a repeat of the economic crisis that forced a bailout of the country in 2009, Bloomberg News reported. As a source of cash for the state, DP World Ltd. is a key asset for the emirate as it endures another year of lower property prices and a struggling retail sector. The country has introduced some counter-measures to revive growth, like easing restrictions on visas and tackling oversupply in the real-estate market.

Cash-strapped Lebanon is set to request technical assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday, according to a senior political source. The source told Reuters on Wednesday that the formal request will be sent “in the coming hours” for advice on how to help stabilise the country’s nose-diving economy, and potentially restructure its debt, Middle East Eye reported. Lebanon has a $1.2bn Eurobond maturing on 9 March and is apparently seeking advice on whether to pay it.

Lebanon needs the help of the International Monetary Fund to draft a rescue plan and decide whether to repay its $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing next month, a local newspaper cited a veteran politician and member of the ruling coalition as saying, Bloomberg News reported. With the country facing its worst financial crisis in decades after months of protests, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Lebanon should form a task force comprising the premier, ministers of economy and finance as well as legal and financial experts, Annahar newspaper reported.

Some foreign holders of Lebanon’s bonds are expressing support for a government debt restructuring as the clamor grows among local politicians to skip a payment due in weeks, Bloomberg News reported. At a private meeting days ago with government representatives, a number of foreign funds that own Eurobonds, including a $1.2 billion note due March 9, argued that Lebanon would be better off restructuring rather than paying its debt, said a person familiar with the matter, declining to identify the investors.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped authorities are struggling to decide what to do about a $1.2 billion Eurobond maturing in March but are leaning towards repayment for foreign holders and a swap for local investors, political and banking sources said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Lebanon, which has never defaulted on its hefty debt, is in the throes of a financial and economic crisis that has shattered confidence in banks and ignited protests against a political elite blamed for steering the country towards collapse.

Lebanon's banks further tightened limits on foreign currency withdrawals on Monday, with at least one financial institution restricting depositors to a maximum withdrawal of $400 a month, Al Jazeera reported. Curbs on withdrawals and other unofficial capital controls were first implemented in November following bank closures in response to nationwide protests against corruption, political sclerosis and the government's mismanagement of the economy.

Bridegrooms in the Gaza Strip are finding marriage a path to debtors’ prison rather than to happiness. Wedding celebrations cost around $10,000 in the Palestinian enclave, but a tradition of strong family ties and large gatherings often trumps financial common sense, Reuters reported. So with unemployment in Gaza topping 50% and the economy in a parlous state, many bridegrooms turn for help to money-lending associations that offer wedding loans ranging from $2,000 to $4,000, but repayment often becomes impossible.

Abu Dhabi-based construction firm Al Fara’a Group is in talks with banks to restructure about 2 billion dirhams ($545 million) in liabilities, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. A large chunk of this is held by local lenders including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC and First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The group has been facing difficulties for a number of years and has cut thousands of jobs, delayed payments to employees and vendors, some of the people said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has all but won a devastating nine-year war, but he faces a challenge to revive an economy devastated by war, shunned by foreign investors and strangled by Western sanctions. Now, the battered economy is suffering a fresh blow, The Wall Street Journal reported. A plunging currency has sent inflation soaring and kindled rare and risky demonstrations against the regime, with Syrians protesting sharp increases in the cost of food, medicine and transportation.