Zoellick confident Dubai financial problems will be contained

Dubai: Dubai World's debt restructuring will be contained and manageable, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday.

"Because of the nervousness in financial markets, the events in Dubai caused everybody to take a second and third look at fragilities," he told reporters. "I personally think that the Dubai financial problems will be contained and manageable."

The situation is now expected to be largely contained to the emirate and a handful of large creditors with limited repercussions for debt markets much beyond the Gulf. Zoellick said he did not expect the restructuring to affect Indian markets.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's top monetary official on Friday sought to reassure investors and play down the impact of Dubai's debt crisis ahead of the first day of stock market trading in the Kingdom since the news broke.

"The group's [of Saudi banks] exposure to Dubai World is very limited," Mohammad Al Jasser, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, said . "If we look at the total balance of all Saudi banks ... exposure to Dubai World is less than two in a thousand," he said.