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Udhay Shankar N said the following on 04/06/2007 10:59:

> You know your currency has become a 98-pound weakling when Kuwait can
> kick sand on it.

More like a 1/2-pound weakling.

The GCC countries import all commodities, largely from Europe and Asia,
so a weakening US dollar drives costs up and oil revenues down. All GCC
countries have (unofficially) been talking of moving the US peg to a
basket of currencies, but are trying to hold off as far as possible.

Kuwait has a slightly volatile political situation, which pushed them to
take the decision. It's highly likely Oman will follow. The others are
holding back because they have unrealistic ambitions towards a unified
GCC currency by 2010, which was to be pegged to the dollar as well.

The UAE has had inflation estimated between 35% to 50% over the last
three years, though the government claims 15%. This is now exacerbated
by the dollar's demise.

Ram
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