Up to 2,500 people leave the UAE each month without paying off credit card bills, a senior RAK Bank official told Reuters. Most of those leaving without settling their credit card debts were linked to the construction sector in Dubai, said RAK Bank business advisor David Martin.

While the number of skips has begun to level off in the past two months, banks in the UAE could face a new wave of customers leaving with debts unpaid as expats with children who have lost their jobs may wait to the end of the school year to leave, Martin said.