Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have decided at their annual summit to stick to a 2010 date to launch their single currency, the GCC chief told reporters yesterday. "The leaders have decided to continue to work towards achieving the monetary union... and confirmed keeping the date of 2010," Abdulrahman al-Attiyah told reporters. "They have tasked the finance ministers and governors of central banks to continue working to reach convergence, and to present the results to the next summit which will be held in Oman," he added. The decision was taken during the preparatory ministerial meetings ahead of the summit at the insistence of oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia, the leading member of the GGC, a delegate told Agence France-Presse. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Oman has pulled out of the single currency project, while the UAE has openly said that the 2010 launch is not possible because of technical, legislative and fiscal hurdles.All the GCC countries apart from Kuwait continue to peg their currencies to the deteriorating dollar, despite high inflation rates.