CBK chief :Single Gulf currency goal, not hope

Governor Sheikh Salem Abdelaziz Al-Sabah said here Friday the planned single Arabian Gulf currency is a goal, rather than a hope. Speaking to KUNA upon arrival in Switzerland to attend meetings of international Islamic liquidity management institutions, Sheikh Salem: "The issuance of the single Gulf currency is a goal, rather than a hope, which we are struggling to attain." He added that key steps would be taken ahead of the issuance of the Gulf currency, chiefly the launching of a uniform Gulf central bank as a congenial legal and institutional ground. "Work is in full swing to notch up such an end as soon as possible," he told KUNA. However, he said the Gulf Monetary Council is facing diverse challenges, primarily a necessary strong and sound legislative, financial and institutional infrastructure. In this context, he urged the six GCC member states to regulate and coordinate their financial and monetary policies and unify many economic and trade legislations in order to have equal competitive edge. Regarding Kuwait's participation in meetings of international Islamic liquidity management institutions, the CBK governor said the gathering is mainly intended to find Islamic sukuk or financial certificates with diverse terms, something in which the world market is lacking. "We need to regulate this market and to issue such sukuk through weighty bodies in order to reassure investors," he said. Such sukuk will be beneficial to Islamic banking and financial institutions thanks to relevant liquidity tools.