GCC countries to endorse monetary union agreement in November
9/9/2008 17:39
The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will endorse a proposed
monetary union agreement at its annual summit to be held in the Omani capital of
Muscat in November, the Gulf News newspaper reported today.
The GCC member
states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), will also announce the setting up of a monetary council at the
coming Muscat summit, GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah told the
newspaper in an interview.
The monetary council is thought of as one step
before establishing a GCC central bank which is indispensable for the bloc's
proposed monetary union that is expected to come into force in 2010.
Al
Attiyah said the timetable to launch the monetary union " will be drawn once the
monetary council is announced and its organizational structure and bylaws are
finalized."
GCC financial ministers decided in 2001 to set up a monetary
union in a bid to boost economic integration within the region.
However, Oman
announced in December 2006 that it would not join the single currency by 2010,
while Kuwait said in May 2007 that it will peg its currency dinar with a basket
of main currencies instead of the US dollar alone, giving a further blow to the
bloc's monetary union project.
Established in 1981, GCC is a regional
political and economic alliance aimed at enhancing cooperation among its six
member countries.
Xinhua
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