The International Monetary Fund has warned that Dubai is risking another boom-to-bust business cycle by pushing up its debt to boost short-term growth at the cost of the medium term outlook, in a statement concluding its annual mission to the UAE.

The global central bank highlighted an increase in debt at Dubai government-related companies from $84bn to $93bn in the year to end of March 2013. Borrowers have been taking advantage of the low yield on Dubai Government bonds to raise new funds. Total debts of $142bn are now over 100% of GDP.

Worryingly, around $60b of Dubai’s debts mature between this year and 2017, said the IMF, and that would leave the emirate vulnerable again to any deterioration in the global economy, as occurred in 2009. It criticized the management of debt in Dubai and called for the establishment of a debt management office.