In a step toward the formation of a single currency between the six Gulf Arab states, the Kuwaiti government has announced a decision to link its national currency to the US dollar from 2003. The Emirate is the last Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member to link its currency to the dollar.
The pegging of the Kuwaiti dinar to the US currency is conditional upon approval from the Emirate’s OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) member Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The dinar has been linked to a basket of currencies since 1975 including the dollar, the euro and the Japanese yen.
Heads of state from the GCC signed a customs and monetary union agreement in 2001 in a bid to forge a weighty economic bloc. A single currency system is scheduled to materialize in January 2010. GCC members include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
