'Tens of millions of dirhams' lost due to rains

Businesses in the UAE have lost "at least tens of millions of dirhams" to the chaos caused by intermittent rains over the past couple of days, an analyst told Emirates Business.

"These are direct losses to businesses, with indirect losses much more than that," said the Dubai-based economist who wished to remain anonymous.

While most key sectors of the economy were impacted albeit in varying degrees, a major chunk of the losses arose from loss of productivity due to a large section of employees unable to reach their workplaces on time.

Sectors such as retail and restaurants were among the hardest hit because customers chose to remain indoors, with some of those who did go out having to turn back owing to water-logging on parts of some roads. Construction and related industries were other sectors that came to a virtual standstill due to the downpour, besides the fact that a good proportion of workers were unable to make it to their construction sites on time from their accommodations in different emirates owing to major traffic jams and water-logging problems on the roads.

Moreover, there were a number of road accidents, and bills for damages to vehicles are bound to turn up as insurance claims.

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