Gulf cenbanks won't set common currency deadline - Jasser
Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:04am EDT
RIYADH, March 30 (Reuters) - Gulf central banks forging a monetary union will not set a deadline for the launch of the common currency, Saudi Arabia's central bank chief Muhammad Al-Jasser said on Tuesday.
The peg for the new monetary unit would be set by the common central bank, Jasser, head of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency and newly named chairman of the Gulf monetary council, said.
Central bankers from four Gulf oil producing states launched on Tuesday the joint monetary council, which is expected to lay the foundations for a regional central bank and prepare the launch of a single currency in a nearly decade-old plan.
The four central bank governors are now expected to set an agenda for coming months at their inaugural meeting.
Jasser said Arab countries from outside the Gulf Cooperation Council such as Iraq would not be allowed to join the union.
