Meeting of GCC monetary council board begins in Doha

The 11th meeting of the GCC Monetary Council board, which consists of governors of central banks and heads of monetary agencies of the Member States in the monetary union, got underway here this evening. Following the meeting, Chairman of the Council Dr Mohammed Suleiman Al Jasser told reporters that today''s meeting continued discussion of some aspects aimed at completing the building of the GCC monetary union and its various organs, and reviewed the achievements of the previous stage as well as some organizational matters entrusted to the organs and committees of the Council. Responding to a question from Qatar News Agency (QNA), he said the GCC states agreed to create ''Gulfstat'' - a statistical agency - similar to Eurostat, which conducts statistical studies, pointing out that the GCC countries had already taken a decision in this regard. No specific date has been set for the single currency launch, Al Jasser said replaying to another question, adding that when all steps required are met in a careful and scientific manner the launch date will be announced. He stressed that the Council is moving forward to release a single GCC currency.