Quick: what's the currency of Dubai?

Dirham.

As in:

Nakheel PJSC, the Dubai World property developer, posted a first-half loss of 13.4 billion dirhams, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News.

Debt restructuring by Dubai state-run companies may almost double to $46.7 billion as more of the emirate’s businesses need help making payments, Morgan Stanley said.

Nakheel PJSC’s $3.52 billion of Islamic bonds due Dec. 14 dropped more than 10 percent yesterday to 46.5 cents on the dollar, according to Citigroup Inc. Bonds sold by DIFC Investments and Dubai Holdings Commercial sank as low as 44.5 cents on the dollar after Moody’s Investors Service cut the credit ratings of six state-run companies. A jump in the cost of DP World’s credit-default swaps implied a 33 percent risk that the port operator will renege on debt.

OK, so you didn't quite get that currency quick enough. Here's an easier one:

What's the currency of Greece?


No, not drachma. It's the Euro, as in:

Fitch yesterday downgraded Greece’s credit rating one step to BBB+, the third-lowest on its investment-grade scale, and said the outlook for the rating is negative.

Moody’s also said that its top debt ratings on the U.S. and the U.K. may “test the Aaa boundaries.”

(From the same Bloomberg article as above.)

Some broader perspective here: Testing the AAA boundaries

OK, another one. What's the currency of Spain?

Again, the Euro, as in S&P revises Spain’s outlook to negative [UPDATE]:

Not to be outdone by its rivals at Fitch, who on Tuesday downgraded the sovereign rating of the Hellenic Republic of Greece, Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday revised its outlook on the Kingdom of Spain to negative from stable.

[Quoting from S&P report:]

The change in the outlook stems from our expectation of significantly lower GDP growth and persistently high fiscal deficits relative to peers over the medium term, in the absence of more aggressive fiscal consolidation efforts and a stronger policy focus on enhancing medium-term growth prospects.

Which, begins to sound a bit like Japan: Japan GDP revised heavily downward

Japan’s growth between July and September was revised down heavily on Wednesday, suggesting the country’s recovery is more fragile than previously thought.

Growth on the previous quarter was revised down from 1.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent. At an annualised rate the revision was from 4.8 per cent to 1.3 per cent.

A recovery in business investment reported in the first release proved an illusion.

While the revision undermined the idea that Japanese businesses have regained confidence and are preparing to expand output, private consumption was a bright spot, with growth revised up from 0.7 per cent to 0.9 per cent quarter on quarter.

[But:] “Consumer spending will probably start to decelerate in coming quarters,” said Seiji Adachi, a senior economist at Deutsche Securities in Tokyo. “People won’t keep purchasing durable goods just because the government has extended incentives.”

And Mexico: Fitch downgrades Mexico

And Russia: Russia downgrade first of many?

Meanwhile, the currency of the US (known for the last few years as the "doo doo"), may possibly be staging a bottoming, but only compared to the rest of the world's harder hit currencies:

Greenback Breakout?