GCC central banks seek to enhance liquidity predictability

KUWAIT: Central Bank of Kuwait’s Governor Mohammad Al Hashel said that GCC central banks are seeking to create tools for boosting their predictability of banking liquidi- ty. Hashel, also the President of the Gulf Monetary Council (GMC), was speaking during the inaugural session of a workshop on liquidity projection and analysis, co-organized by the CBK and the GCC council. GCC countries’ economies share factors that affect liquidity levels, direct and fundamental impact of oil income and pegging of the national currencies to the basket of hard currencies, Hashel said. These economies are also characterized with free internal and external money movement, he adds, however he cautions that global developments such as greater trade barriers and political jitters have been affecting the regional countries’ economies. Advanced states’ monetary policies may lead to adverse outcome, such as higher debts, sharp fluctuation of exchange rates, thus states may be ultimately in difficulty to honor their obligations Meanwhile, the council’s executive director Dr Atef Al-Rashidi said in a statement at the event that the workshop addresses projection and management of liquidity in the GCC countries, where the central banks seek to enhance their abilities with respect of forecasting banking liquidity. He has pointed out that such greater abilities enable the central banks to intervene in conditions where the liquidity depletes.

Separately, the committee of GCC Finance Undersecretaries recommended at the 56th meeting in Muscat, Oman to draw the outlines of the new 2025 economic unity plan. The meeting discussed the Gulf market as a whole, and revised the possibilities of applying the board’s recommendations in reality to achieve economic integration. The meeting also tackled the unified regulations for medicine and medical equipment that has zero percent tax commission. GCC Ministers of Finance are scheduled to hold a meeting today in Muscat to approve all decisions of the undersecretaries. The Kuwaiti delegation participating in the meeting was headed by Undersecretary of Finance Saleh Al-Saraawi.