October 10, 2002	Thursday	Sha’aban 3, 1423

RIYADH, Oct 9: Finance ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states will meet here on Saturday to review steps taken for the launch of their customs union in January next year, the top GCC official said on Wednesday.

The ministers will study recommendations made by the GCC customs chiefs’ meeting held in Riyadh Tuesday which concluded that all the alliance’s member states were prepared to launch the union on time, GCC secretary general Abdulrahman al-Atiya said in a statement.

GCC finance ministers in June cleared the biggest stumbling block to their customs union by agreeing to distribute customs revenues on the basis of the final destination of imports.

The agreement would be implemented for a period of three years before being reevaluated for possible changes.

The finance ministers’ meeting will also review procedures for monetary union planned for 2005 and a single currency in 2010.

GCC central bank governors decided Tuesday to ask the European Central Bank to study requirements for the union.

The currencies of the GCC member states are pegged to the dollar, except the Kuwaiti dinar which is pegged against a basket of currencies, but mainly the dollar. The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—AFP