国际英语新闻：Kuwait says Gulf single currency should be carried out in phases

KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait has suggested that the Gulf single currency initiative should be carried out in phases "due to the limited progress" to date, local daily Awan reported on Sunday.

    "The best way is to work out an administrative plan" for the common currency and implement it in stages, Kuwaiti central bank governor Sehikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah was quoted as saying.

    The governor's remarks were the latest from a top official of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state on the target to establish a euro-style currency in 2010.

    GCC members, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), hammered out the ten-year ambition in 2001.

    But in 2006, Oman shocked the bloc by its decision to opt out the bid, saying it was not ready to meet the preconditions.

    The UAE followed suit in May this year amid quarrel on the decision to locate the joint central bank in Saudi Arabia.

    The withdrawal of the two, especially the UAE, the Arab world's largest economy after Saudi Arabia, cast a shadow over the landmark plan.

    Experts have said the single currency target would possibly be delayed as time is running short but thorny issues still linger.