Dubai: Most babies are welcomed to the world with smiles and kisses. In Dubai they also get savings bonds.
In a volatile economy with an increasingly expensive cost of living, your bundle of joy needs a bundle of cash to maintain it.
The Sharia-compliant National Bonds Corporation (NBC) has created the new "Welcome to the World" saving scheme to give newborn babies a steady financial footing.
Parents of about 600 babies born at Al Wasl Hospital, for example, will receive a gift pack with National Bonds Dh100 savings certificates and a gift hamper. Parents also get a savings calculator.
"NBC is playing an integral role in encouraging parents to save for their babies from day one and highlighting to them the importance of regular saving for their children's future. We look forward to continuing these kinds of initiatives in the future," chief executive Mohammad Qasim Al Ali told Gulf News.
As parents count their new baby's fingers and toes, they're also calculating the money it takes to raise them.
"Babies are expensive but necessary," said Mervat Al Khatib, mother of 18-month-old Karim. "We could sell our clothes, gold, and everything we own — because kids are my real investment in life, not property or cars.
"The stock exchange rises and falls, but school tuition rises and never drops," she said.
"There is not a savings culture yet, but more of a spending culture," said Al Ali. "However, the financial crisis is teaching everyone the importance of saving."
