Riyadh made capital of Gulf Monetary Council

The Gulf Monetary Council has signed an agreement declaring Riyadh as its headquarters here yesterday. The agreement was co-signed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah representing the Kingdom and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the council Fahd Al-Mubarak representing the council. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait are the four members in the monetary council, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday. The council aims to launch a single currency at least by 2015, according to earlier reports. The Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council in its 29th session in Muscat in 2008 approved the Monetary Union Agreement and the Statute of the Monetary Council, which developed the legal and institutional framework for the Monetary Union and identified the goals and tasks of the Monetary Council. The member states of the Monetary Union Agreement ratified the agreement, and, as a result, the Monetary Agreement entered into force on Feb. 27, 2010. Arab News