Gulf Central Banks Hold First Monetary Council Meet in Riyadh

* username: rupertbu

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain will take a step toward setting up a single currency today when their central bank governors hold the first meeting of the Monetary Council, a precursor to a united central bank.

The inaugural session in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, marks the first official meeting of the four governors without their colleagues from Oman and the United Arab Emirates since the U.A.E. pulled out of the planned currency in May. The council is scheduled to work on a road-map for a plan that Kuwait says will take a decade to complete.

Gulf countries agreed on the currency in 2001, saying it would help integrate their economies, and the original timetable would have seen the new monetary unit in place this year. The deadline was missed after the U.A.E. and Oman pulled out. Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, has indicated that the participants may avoid setting a new deadline.