Central Banking Corp.

Qatar Inflation Seen Significantly Down in 2009

(Reuters)

5 December 2009

DOHA - Qatar’s inflation will keep well below last year’s record peak in 2009 despite breakneck economic growth and interest rates should remain stable, Central Bank deputy governor Shaikh Fahad bin Faisal Al Thani said.

Inflation has slowed sharply in the Arab Gulf after oil and property prices plunged. Qatar’s economy enjoyed strong growth rates, unlike the rest of the Gulf, as the world’s top natural gas exporter kept its oil and gas output 
intact.

“Inflationary pressures in Qatar are also expected to be lower as demand pressures are low,” Shaikh Fahad said on Thursday in an e-mailed response to Reuters’ questions.

http://www.saudigaze...

Currency union pact to be inked on June 7
Saudi Gazette report

MUSCAT – Gulf states will sign an agreement for monetary union on June 7 in Riyadh, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said at a meeting of the GCC finance ministers in Muscat Saturday.
Al-Attiyah said the GCC’s Higher Council had authorized the Ministerial Council to sign the agreement.

Was anybody counting on a single currency for the Gulf?

From Arabian Business

by Soren Billing and Tom Arnold, Wednesday, 20 May 2009

The GCC monetary union is "dead" as a result of a decision by the UAE to pull out of the plan, leading UAE economists pronounced on Wednesday
The UAE's move, which came just three weeks after a decision to base the bloc's central bank in Riyadh, was the result of a clash of egos, according to a Saudi expert, who urged Gulf politicians not to let egos get in the way of rational decision.
Dubai-based economist, Eckart Woertz, said that he was surprised by the decision, adding that the monetary union was “dead” without the UAE’s involvement.