Speaking to Khaleej  Times, a member of Yemen representative in the AGCC Working Committee, said the ministers of finance and economy in the seven Gulf states will meet very soon to decide on the rates at which the currencies of the seven countries will be locked together in the new currency.

"I was told that all the other six countries are well-prepared for the move except Yemen. We shall definitely do our best to capture the opportunity. We were told to be prepared to  pave the way for the new currency zone," he said.

" Yemen will benefit a lot from the AGCC single currency, for it is the poorest among the members of the council. The only problem with Yemen is whether it will meet the economic qualifying conditions for the monetary union or not. We are now working in that direction. I think we have ample time to catch up with the conditions set for monetary union, " he said.

The move is expected to give birth to a single currency zone of 50 million consumers in the region . "I  guess the variation of the currencies' denomination can always be reconciled and a common agreeable name will be reached too, "the source said.

" In my view , these snags won't delay the process. The matter of merging the currencies was discussed several times before Yemen joined the council, and it has been approved by the Supreme Council, it is now  in the second stage of technical evaluation, " he said.

Asked if there will be many obstacles in implementation of  the single currency within the scheduled time, the source said," Why should we have problems since our currencies are of the same rates and almost the same denomination of  riyal and dirham. The European countries had all the reasons to  halt the implementation of single currency, yet they went ahead with determination to become the strongest currency in the world in less than five years."

Economists say that among the reasons to be cautiously optimistic is the implementation of the customs duty and the similarities of the economic outlook between the six nations.  The six Arab Gulf Countries are embarking on the exceptionally difficult job of creating a new currency, but we are quite optimistic and positive, he added. We have no choice but  come up with a single currency. "

"To become a real cohesive world force we have to increase our economic leverage and unify our currency. With the dirham or the riyal in place, the action will provide circumstances for testing the premise that the AGCC states can move toward achieving a new level of integration. The unification of customs  tariff is just one step  that  dampens enthusiasm and desire to implement the single currency policy, said the source. More steps are necessary if we have to meet the deadline," he said.

"By the year 2010 it will become clearer how successfully the Gulf countries are able to function as one in the  Arab and international councils where global monetary and economic policies are decided," he said.

"In fact  AGCC states are so close that they are considered by some to be one state. They are all oil-producing countries  with the same monetary policies, banking system, the same language, religion and traditions. It is only the bureaucracy that delays the steps needed to be implemented," he said.