GCC on course to meet 2010 monetary union deadline
Khaleej Times
GCC on course to meet 2010 monetary union deadline
By Lucia Dore
27 April 2007
DUBAI - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is on course to meet a 2010 deadline to form a monetary union, the UAE Central Bank Governor, Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, said yesterday. "There is no delay to forming a currency union," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an Islamic Banking Conference held in Dubai.
Five GCC countries are working to form a monetary union- Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Hamood Sangour Al Zadjali, executive president of Oman’s Central Bank, said in December that the Sultanate would not be joining the single currency by 2010.
Al Suwaidi again ruled out any revaluation of the UAE dirham. "For the time being, it is a dead issue," he said. He also confirmed that Kuwait, which revalued its currency last year, had committed to keeping its currency trade band with the GCC currency policy.
On the question of whether two UAE home finance providers - Amlak Finance and Tamweel - would receive banking licences, Al Suwaidi said their applications would be considered at the next board meeting of the UAE Central Bank’s board of governors. The board meets every 45 days, he said, and the next meeting will be in May. He also stated that there was a "queue" for applications and they would not be given any special consideration. "They would be treated the same as everyone else," he said.
Amlak Finance announced on March 29 that the UAE has rejected its application for a banking licence. But in early April a company statement posted on the DFM Web site said that it had not received an official reply regarding the application. The expectation among investors that a banking licence could still be granted was cited as a reason for the share price gain that day.
