Gulf states plan to launch their monetary council next year but the proposed single currency may be delayed, the Saudi central bank chief has said.

'The (Gulf) monetary council will be established in 2010. It will be entrusted to complete other procedures,' Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) Governor Mohammad Al Jasser was quoted as saying in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

The 'procedures,' such as the launch of the single currency, 'will be completed in the correct way to achieve the required results,' Al Jasser said on the sidelines of the first Kuwait Financial Forum.

'It may be completed one year ahead or one year late. This is not important. The important thing is the success of the project.'

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar signed a pact in June to create a joint monetary council, which will later become the joint GCC central bank. The remaining two GCC members, the UAE and Oman, did not sign after deciding to withdraw from the project.

The UAE was upset at the selection of Riyadh to host the future GCC central bank, while Oman withdrew from the monetary union saying it was not ready to meet the preconditions.

Al Jasser, however, said that he is still hopeful that the two states will join the union later.