British retailers have long been accused of "cashing in on Christmas", turning the religious festival into a glorified shopping spree. The inaugural Eid in Dubai event is drawing whispers of similar criticism here.

This week sees the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha. Traditionally, it marks the beginning of the Haj, which draws millions of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Eid in Dubai hopes to draw similarly large crowds to the city's malls; it's organised by the same government department as Dubai Shopping Festival, a six-week retail jamboree that generates about £2 billion of annual sales.

To be fair to officials, they're playing up the cultural bits of Eid in Dubai; they've even built a Heritage Zone promoting local crafts, music and food. But they admit that making money is paramount: "The new concept will be eagerly welcomed by the different business sectors in the emirate, including the retail and hospitality sectors, and will certainly enhance their contributions to the city's GDP," reads a press release.

Traditionalists may balk at such brazen commercialism, but right now the city's shopkeepers will take all the help they can get. Dubai produces little retail sales data, but anecdotal evidence suggests both residents and tourists are tightening their belts.

Here's one story among many. My father arrived from Manchester last week, planning to buy himself a Rolex. But with sterling in the doldrums he was shocked at the prices in the new Dubai Mall (the world's biggest, naturally). He left wearing a fifty-quid backstreet fake from the rundown Karama district. Multiply that by the 700,000 Brits and Irish who visit Dubai each year, and the scale of the issue is clear.

* Some respite for Dubai's construction industry: a £900 million contract to build a new terminal at Dubai International Airport. Australia's Leighton Holdings is among the main beneficiaries, with Leighton stock climbing 15% the day after the announcement. This came little more than a week after developers postponed a similar-sized contract to build Trump Tower on a man-made island, blaming a slowdown in the property market.

* Global commodity prices may be falling, but one asset is on the up: sheep. Goats are also in demand, as Muslims prepare their Eid sacrifices. Prices have risen about 50% in the past year. The average cost of a Gulf sheep has climbed to about £180, up from £120 or so last year. Big billygoats fetch roughly the same price, after an export surge to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia left the Emirates short.