Trade Arabia - Economy
Gulf Arab states will reconsider a 2010 deadline for monetary union at a autumn meeting as the single currency plan is hindered by rapid economic growth and soaring inflation, the Saudi central bank governor said.
'2010 is too soon and therefore it is a big challenge,' Hamad Saud Al-Sayyari told Al Arabiya television.
'The programme will be discussed and reconsidered at a joint meeting with finance ministers this autumn,' he said in remarks aired on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia and four of its neighbours in the world's biggest oil-exporting region had initially agreed to launch a single currency in 2010.
'Everybody is in agreement about the seriousness of the project and its importance,' Sayyari said. 'But because the region is passing through an abnormal phase in economic activities and an increase in inflation ...achieving this target is very difficult.' - Reuters