of-Spain/Washington, Nov 27, SPA -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday sought to reassure nervous markets over Dubai"s debt problems, calling fears over a major default a "setback" but not one that would derail global economic recovery, according to dpa. "While it is a setback, I think we will find this is not on the scale of the previous problems we have dealt with," Brown said at the summit of 53 Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Dubai World, the state-owned real-estate and ports giant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that has driven much of the economic growth in the city-state in recent years, asked two days ago for a moratorium on payments for its 59-billion-dollar debt until May. British banks have a 50-billion-pound (82-billion-dollar) loan exposure to the UAE, including the Dubai World facility. Brown said he had received assurances from international banking regulator, Mario Draghi, who is the chairman of the Financial Stability Board, and frin others in the UAE. The threat of default has played havoc with world markets. European stock markets managed to regain a measure of composure Friday, clawing back big losses run up the previous day after Dubai"s announcement provoked fears of a financial crisis in the Middle East. Markets across Asia plummeted on Friday.
