The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) planned to issue a common currency by 2010, a senior official of the bloc was quoted by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) as saying on Monday.

Work has been underway for a common currency which is due to be issued by 2010, GCC Assistant Secretary-General Mohammad Obeid al-Mazroo'i said.

The decision to issue a common currency "was approved at the 22nd GCC Summit, which was held in 2001 in Muscat (capital of Oman)," said al-Mazroo'i, who mainly deals with the group's economic affairs.

"The process should go through three stages," he said, adding that the related work of the third stage was underway right now and a committee has been founded to give names to the new common currency in all its forms.

According to al-Mazroo'i, the first stage, linking the currencies of all GCC member states with US dollar, was finished in 2002 while the second stage, calling for agreeing on standards of economic rapprochement, was ended in 2005.

GCC, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emigrates, was established in 1981 for boosting cooperation and integration among its member states.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)