DUBAI, March 3: Gulf countries will decide whether to revalue their currencies at their next meeting in April, but the United Arab Emirates will not revalue separately, the UAE central bank governor said on Saturday.

We will come to a conclusion (about revaluation) at our next meeting. We will not act unilaterally, Sultan Nasser al-Suweidi told reporters.

In preparation for monetary union, the six Gulf Arab states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have pegged their currencies to the dollar, which fell 10 percent against the euro last year, driving up imported inflation around the region.

Speculation about a region-wide revaluation reached fever pitch earlier this year after the UAE said Gulf states could decide at the Riyadh meeting scheduled for April whether to keep or change their exchange rate regime.

The GCC states will also discuss monetary union at the meeting, although Oman opted last year not to join by the planned 2010 date and policymakers from other member states have said the deadline will be tough to meet.

Suweidi said fellow Gulf countries would seek to bring Oman back into joint plans for a regional currency union.

Asked whether Oman would rejoin the union, Suweidi said: “I think the chances are very strong. There are several versions of a monetary union. We could have one that is much simpler than what is on the table now.” The UAE, a Gulf Arab commercial hub that includes the booming emirate of Dubai, would itself wait for the euro to decline before buying any more for its reserves, he said.

He added that the UAE expected to halve its inflation rate in 2007 to around 4.5 per cent from around 10 per cent in 2006, because new housing coming onto the market would help to curb soaring rents.

The extra units that will be coming in Dubai will put downward pressure on inflation, he said, adding that a rental cap in the neighbouring emirate of Abu Dhabi would also help to control inflation.—Reuters