Finance ministers from several Gulf states have thrown their weight behind plans to launch a single currency that could reshape the region's economic landscape.

They fell short, however, of making a decision on when the new currency would be launched, an acknowledgment that their original, self-imposed deadline of January 1, 2010, was unrealistic.

The draft agreement would have to be ratified by the heads of state from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at their annual summit in Oman this year.

Henry Azzam, chief executive officer for the Middle East and North Africa at Deutsche Bank, said: "A monetary union would give the Gulf wider and deeper capital markets and more of an international voice."

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