DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai's leader tried to calm panicky investors Tuesday as regional markets tumbled for a second day on news that the city-state's chief conglomerate needs to delay payments on its US$60 billion in debt for six months.

Dubai World -- the United Arab Emirates' chief engine of growth -- gave anxious investors the first bit of clarity they were hoping for on how it might meet its debt obligations. It said it had begun discussions with creditors on $26 billion of its debt that would include restructuring about $6 billion.

The conglomerate, which is involved in international projects from Gulf banks and ports in 50 countries to luxury retailer Barney's New York and a grandiose six-tower hotel-entertainment complex in Las Vegas, did not deal with the broader issue of how it would meet its entire crushing debt burden.

Dubai is one of seven highly autonomous statelets that make up the United Arab Emirates and the crisis has sent the UAE's two biggest markets into a tailspin. The Dubai Financial Market sank another 5.61 per cent on Tuesday after plunging 7.3 per cent on Monday and Abu Dhabi's bourse closed down 3.57 per cent following an 8 per cent slide a day earlier.

Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, tried to reassure investors in his first public statement about Dubai World's debt crisis.

"Our economy is strong and solid and consistent," he told Al-Arabiya satellite television, adding markets were overreacting because of "a lack of understanding about what is happening in Dubai." He did not elaborate.

UAE President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan also maintained his country's economy was healthy.

However, analysts say Dubai World's debt crisis is a symptom of a broader malaise in the city-state. Dubai has no oil resources. But for the past decade, it has been the freewheeling boomtown, racking up debt as it built extravagant artificial residential islands, malls complete with indoor ski slopes and the world's tallest tower.

Investors were eagerly awaiting clarity on how Dubai World would deal with its debts, specifically reassurances that the company was sitting down with its creditors to refinance its debt.

Saurabh Dhall, an independent broker in Dubai, said there is a lot of uncertainty about how the debt crisis will play out. He said it was raising credibility concerns both about Dubai's ability to stand behind its debt obligations and the possibility, however, remote, that the crisis could impact broader government debt in the UAE.

"The major concern is not so much the dollar amount ... of the payments, it's the concern about how this will affect credibility," he said.

Investors were not reassured on Monday when Dubai officials indicated they had washed their hands of Dubai World's debts, arguing that it was an independent company that happened to be owned by the emirate.

The news rattled investors and raised more questions about whether neighbouring Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich seat of the UAE's federal government, would step in with a bailout of sort and what such a step would mean for Dubai.

Dubai World said Tuesday in a statement the restructuring would include about $6 billion in Islamic bonds issued by its real estate arm, Nakheel PJSC, the company behind Dubai's iconic, palm-shaped artificial islands. About $3.5 billion of the bonds come due on Dec. 14, and Nakheel was viewed as the litmus test for how Dubai World will deal with its debt woes.

Dubai World's statement Tuesday said the restructuring would include Dubai World and certain subsidiaries, including Nakheel World and Limitless World. Excluded from the talks are debts from Infinity World Holding, Istithmar World and Ports&Free Zone World, which includes ports and terminal operator DP World, Economic Zones World, P&O Ferries and Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The conglomerate said all those subsidiaries are on "stable financial footing," and in a statement posted on the Nasdaq Dubai Web site, Jebel Ali Free Zone said it paid a roughly $2 billion Islamic bond, or sukuk, on time Tuesday.

Other UAE markets also felt the weight of Dubai's problems. Qatar's bourse fell 8.27 per cent while Kuwait's was off 2.71 per cent on Tuesday.

Markets in the Emirates will be closed Wednesday and Thursday for a national holiday and will reopen Sunday after the weekend.