Nakheel to repay a third of bank debt in 1Q14

[DUBAI] Dubai developer Nakheel plans to repay nearly a third of its total bank debt in the first quarter of 2014, well ahead of maturity in 2015, as it benefits from a rebound in the emirate's property sector.

Nakheel, the builder of a palm tree-shaped island off Dubai's coast, was the most high profile casualty of the Gulf state's property market collapse in 2009 and was taken over by the government as part of a US$16 billion rescue plan in 2011.

The property market rebounded in 2013, with prices rising around 22 per cent from 2012. In the crash, they had plummeted more than 50 per cent from their 2008 peak.