text: United Arab Emirates (UAE) Central Bank Governor Abdel Malik al-Hamar said any changes in the UAEs 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 latters 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
target: UAE TO COORDINATE EXCHANGE RATES WITH GCC