Oman committed to US dollar peg, new central bank chief says

Tahir Salim Al-Amri said his country remained committed to the rial鈥檚 currency peg against the US dollar. (Reuters)

ABU DHABI: The new executive president of Oman鈥檚 central bank said on Sunday that his country remained committed to the rial鈥檚 currency peg against the US dollar.
Tahir Salim Al-Amri, a former director-general of treasury and accounts at the Ministry of Finance, was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab central bank governors, in his first comments to foreign media since he was appointed earlier this month.
Al-Amri said the rial was not under pressure in the foreign exchange market, despite low oil prices that have strained Oman鈥檚 state finances and current account balance.
In October last year the 黑料社区n-owned Al Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali, Amri鈥檚 predecessor, as saying the creation of a single Gulf Cooperation Council currency had become inevitable and that 鈥渟erious measures鈥� were being studied to achieve it.
On Sunday, however, Al-Amri said that Oman was not committed to the single currency project.
鈥淲e are committed to the dollar peg but not to the single GCC currency that was decided some years ago,鈥� he said.