The monetary union pact of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has entered into effect, Kuwait's Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali said on Tuesday.

Oil-rich Gulf economies are expected to see better-than-expected budgets in 2009 despite the economic slowdown, thanks to higher world crude prices, an economic report said. "The strengthening in oil prices will be extremely positive for the hydrocarbon-dependant GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, which will see high oil revenues," EFG-Hermes investment bank said in a report received Monday by AFP. "We ...

Arab investors have lost 2.5 trillion dollars from the credit crunch, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah, whose country hosts an Arab economic summit next week, said on Friday. "The Arab world has lost 2.5 trillion dollars in the past four months" as a result of the global financial crisis, Sheikh Mohammad told a press conference following a ...