DJ Qatar Central Bank Gov: GCC To Stick To 2010 Deadline

DJ Qatar Central Bank Gov: GCC To Stick To 2010 Deadline
Saturday, April 05, 2008; Posted: 01:42 PM

DOHA, Apr 05, 2008 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- -- The future Gulf Cooperation Council's currency will remain linked to the U.S. dollar and GCC countries are able to meet the 2010 deadline for the GCC monetary union, Qatar's central bank governor said Saturday.

"We have taken a strong initiative in 2001 to link all the currencies to the dollar and we are sticking to it," Governor Abdullah Bin Saud Al Thani told reporters in Doha.

He added Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and three other GCC countries could still meet the 2010 deadline.

"All GCC countries are capable of entering the GCC (monetary union) by today," he said, adding that inflation was a key issue for all the six nations. He played down the contribution of the dollar peg by saying he expected inflation to decrease by year-end in Qatar as the government is working hard to relieve it.

"Inflation is due to increased government expenditure," he said, adding that the global rise in commodities such as food, energy and agricultural products were also contributing factors to Qatar's record high inflation which some economists put at 14%.

-By Tahani Karrar, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 364 4965; tahani.karrar@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-05-08 1342ET