Submitted by cpowell on 05:38AM ET Tuesday, October 31, 2006. Section: Daily Dispatches

By Haseeb Haider
Khaleej Times, Dubai
Tuesday, October 31, 2006

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/business/20...

ABU DHABI -- The United Arab Emirates Central Bank may cut its U.S. dollar-dominated reserves by up to 90 percent and is looking at other currencies such as the yen, euro, and sterling, UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Nasser Al Suwaidi said yesterday. He did not elaborate.

"The bank hopes to lower the dollar share of its foreign currency reserves to a range of between 50 to 90 percent," Al Suwaidi said. At present, he said, 98 percent of the bank's reserves holdings are in U.S. dollars. The foreign currency reserves of the UAE currently stand at over $25 billion. The Central Bank is yet to convert 10 percent of the total reserves into euros and gold, a decision it took earlier this year.

"It is our investment policy to diversify the reserves. There are  euro, yen, and sterling ... We are still waiting for the appropriate time and circumstances," Al Suweidi told reporters at a briefing after the conclusion of the two-day conference of Gulf Cooperation Council central bank governors and head of monetary agencies in Abu Dhabi.

The GCC central bankers meeting discussed sovereignty matters relating to monetary union. It agreed that an explanatory note shall be forwarded, showing the sovereignty concessions GCC members states will make in case the monetary union is approved. This will include drawing up and implementation of monetary policy, issuance of the unified currency, determining exchange rate policy, approval of the legislation relating to the union requiring amendments to the national banking, financial and monetary rules, and regulations in line with the GCC framework.

The GCC Central Banks and Monetary Agencies, at a meeting in Abu Dhabi yesterday, also agreed on a six-point memorandum of recommendations on GCC Monetary Union to be presented to finance ministers and central banks for developing a consensus. The outcome will be submitted to the heads of states at their meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December for a final adoption.

"We cannot disclose the recommendations we have agreed today until they are presented to the meeting of GCC finance ministers and central bank governors taking place in Jeddah on November 4-5," Al Suwaidi said.

On the subject of the currency peg of the future GCC single currency, whose name has not yet been decided, he said that it would be pegged to U.S. dollar, as per the recommendation of International Monetary Fund.

"The idea is: Instead of pegging it with a basket of currencies, it should be pegged to the single currency, the U.S. dollar, as at the end it would have a tilt to a single currency," he explained.

Al Suwaidi was of the view that the ideal thing would be a free float of the GCC single currency. According to plan, the currency would free-float after five years.

In reply to a question regarding the headquarters of the GCC Central Bank in Abu Dhabi, the governor said that Qatar and Bahrain have also expressed their desire to host the offices of the supreme body.

"Though we were the first, in offering to set up the regulatory institution here. ... we respect the desire expressed by two members of the GCC bloc," he added.

In answer to a question about the prospects of Abu Dhabi in the race for hosting the GCC Central Bank, he said: "Anything is possible."

Al Suwaidi said the name of GCC central bank has also not been yet decided. "It could be GCC Currency Board or GCC Central Bank," he said.

In reply to a question, he said that GulfStat is being established, which would gather information on vital economic and financial statistics on GCC, on the pattern of European Union.

In answer to a question on rising inflation, the governor said inflation would reduce from a current level of 6.5-7 percent to 4-5 percent by the beginning of the 2007. The rise in inflation was due to hiking rents, he said.

* * *

Join GATA
at the
New Orleans Investment Conference
Wednesday-Sunday, November 15-19, 2006

http://www.neworleansconference.com

When you register for this conference online, PLEASE help GATA by designating us as the organization through which you heard about the conference. There's a window at the bottom of the Internet registration form for designating us as your recommender, and the conference will pay GATA a commission for each GATA supporter who attends.

* * *

Help Keep GATA Going

GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at www.GATA.org. GATA is grateful for financial contributions, which are federally tax-deductible in the United States.

Contact GATA

info@gata.org

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, Connecticut
06043-7541 USA

www.gata.org

Recommended Sites

Recommended Internet sites for daily monitoring of gold and precious metals news and analysis.

Free sites:

http://www.jsmineset.com

http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com

http://www.mineweb.com/

http://www.gold-eagle.com/

http://www.kitco.com/

http://www.usagold.com/

http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html

http://www.GoldSeek.com/

http://www.GoldReview.com/

http://www.capitalupdates.com/

http://www.DailyReckoning.com

http://www.goldenbar.com/

http://www.silver-investor.com

http://www.thebulliondesk.com/

http://www.sharelynx.com/

http://www.mininglife.com/

http://www.financialsense.com

http://www.goldensextant.com

http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.depression2.tv

http://www.moneyfiles.org/

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html

http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html

http://www.goldcolony.com

http://www.miningstocks.com

http://www.mineralstox.com

http://www.freemarketnews.com

http://www.321gold.com

http://www.SilverSeek.com

http://www.investmentrarities.com

http://www.kereport.com

(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm

(In Spanish)

http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm

(In English)

http://www.resourceinvestor.com

http://www.miningmx.com

http://www.prudentbear.com

http://www.dollarcollapse.com

http://www.kitcocasey.com

http://000999.forumactif.com/

http://www.golddrivers.com/

http://www.goldpennystocks.com/

http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/

Subscription sites:

http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/

http://www.goldinsider.com/

http://www.hsletter.com

http://www.interventionalanalysis.com

http://www.investmentindicators.com/

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

http://www.investmentrarities.com/

Recommended Gold & Bullion Dealers

Coin and precious metals dealers who have supported GATA
and been recommended by our members:

Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com

Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Lone Star Silver Exchange
Suite 635, 3521 Oak Lawn Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75219
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com

MRCS Canada
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
http://www.mrcscanada.com
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
mrcscanada@shaw.ca

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
http://www.buysilvernow.com

Richard Nachbar Rare Coins
5820 Main St., Suite 601
Williamsville, N.Y. 14221-8232
877-622-4227
http://www.CoinExpert.com
nachbar@coinexpert.com

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066

You are subscribed to the GATA Dispatch mailing list. You can instantly unsubscribe from these emails by clicking here.
Copyright © 1999-2006 All rights reserved.