As part of the Debt Panel, The National published an article on a resident struggling with debt and Ambareen Musa’s response on how they can handle the issue.

I am have worked for an IT company since 2007 and my current salary is Dh9,000 with company provided accommodation. I have four credit cards with total limits of around Dh150,000 (the four cards are full) and also an auto loan for which I pay Dh1,500 monthly. I am the eldest son of my family, so I have huge responsibility to take care of my mother back in Bangladesh. I lost my father in 1995 and have to send a certain amount of money to my home country every month. My wife lives with me in the UAE and is now in her last trimester of pregnancy. I am paying even more than my salary just to cover the minimum payment on my cards. If I pay these minimum amounts, then I cannot send money to my mother and also cannot cover my wife’s treatment expenses.

Here is what one of the debt panellist – Ambareen Musa had to say:

The first step to getting rid of debt is acknowledging the problem and then reorganising your finances to find a solution. As your company is paying for your rent, there is no way for you to save on this but one option is to ask them to provide you with a housing allocation and you can find a place which will allow you to save on rent.

 While banks may be reluctant, make sure you have explored all your options. There are a handful of banks in the UAE which will offer personal loans to individuals working for non-listed companies such as Dubai Islamic Bank. Get in touch with them and see if they can help you out with a liability settlement loan. It will not be easy considering that you have maxed out all your credit cards and you have an auto loan – but it is still worth trying.

For full article go to The National