Omani Minister of National Economy Abdulnabi Macki said that his country will maintain its current policy to peg its currency rial to U.S. dollar, the English newspaper Oman Daily Observer reported on Saturday.
The current dollar-peg "has proved successful and convenient to Omani economy because it had achieved financial and price stability, targeted economic growth, monetary control, well managed financial reserves invested abroad -- usually being valued in dollars -- as well as oil contracts, being specified in U.S. dollars," Macki was quoted as saying.
The minister, who is also the Gulf oil-producing country's Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, said that "we see no reason to change this policy now, and we will continue pegging our currency to U.S. dollar."
According to him, Oman has chosen the fixed exchange rate system and pegged its currency rial to U.S. dollar since 1973.
Oman, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), announced in December 2006 that it would not join the GCC single currency by2010.
GCC financial ministers decided in 2001 to set up a monetary union in a bid to boost economic integration within the region, which is expected to come into force in 2010.
The oil-producing GCC countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been facing mounting pressure of high inflation due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar.
Established in 1981, GCC is a regional political and economic alliance aimed at enhancing cooperation among its six member countries.
Source: Xinhua
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