Kuwait: GCC talking to UAE, Oman on monetary union

Gulf oil produces who are members of the monetary union are talking to the UAE and Oman in a bid to persuade them to join the union, Kuwait’s finance minister said in press comments on Saturday.

Anas al-Saleh said the monetary union members — Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain — have been involved in negotiations with the two countries to expand the union which was launched in 2010.

He told the Saudi Arabic language daily 'Al Eqtisadiah' that the four members are pushing ahead with the monetary union but said some “technical points” need to be cleared.

“As for the UAE and Oman, we are still talking to them so they will join the monetary union. God willing, the talks will produce results,” he said.

The UAE, the second largest Arab economy after Saudi Arabia, had offered to host the monetary union, although both it and Oman opted out of the proposed union before it was launched in 2010.

The UAE and Oman have joined the other GCC members in the customs union and the common market, created several years ago in line with an economic pact signed by the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a year after they launched their economic, defense and political group in 1981. — Agencies