United Arab Emirates (UAE) CentralBank Governor Abdel Malik al-Hamar said any changes in the UAE"s
exchange rate policy would be carried out in conjunction with
other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
    In a speech opening a seminar on Arab exchange rate
policies, he noted the UAE had not changed the value of the
dirham against the U.S. Dollar since 1980 despite wide
fluctuations in the latter"s value against other currencies.
    "The exchange rate policy of the dirham has realised its
goals in the past and changes in this policy depend on
coordination and cooperation with other GCC countries," he said.
    The GCC states -- the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,
Oman and Kuwait -- have agreed in principle to link their
currencies to a common grid.
    Their currencies are now linked either to the dollar, IMF
special drawing right (SDR) or, in the case of Kuwait, a
trade-weighted basket of international currencies.
    The UAE dirham can fluctuate within a band of 7.25 pct
higher or lower than 4.7619 to the SDR but has been fixed at
3.671 to the dollar since November 1980.
 REUTER
