There is never a good time to go bust, but for a hospitals operator such as NMC Health, the middle of a global pandemic is probably the worst possible time. Admittedly, NMC did not have much say in the matter, having been at the mercy of external forces for much of the past four months.

Is there some faint light filtering through at the end of the oil-price tunnel? A recent video forum of energy experts run by information group Gulf Intelligence raised that possibility.

The financial authorities of the two largest economies in the Arabian Gulf — Saudi Arabia and the UAE — have taken commendably rapid action in a bid to head off the economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak.

The US Federal Reserve, the most powerful central bank in the world, has wheeled out the big guns against the coronavirus — but there is no guarantee its firepower will be sufficient to halt the serious economic consequences of the outbreak.

In a sweeping speech at the finale of the Asia House Trade Dialogue in Riyadh, Lord Green, former British minister and banker, contrasted the Saudi Arabia he encountered on his first visit in the 1970s with the booming metropolis it has become today.

As a straw in the wind, the decision by Dubai authorities to delist shares in DP World tells us a lot about the regional economic and financial situation. But it raises as many questions as it answers.