The launch of the Gulf single currency, which had been delayed following the withdrawal of the UAE and Oman, is on track, Saudi Arabia’s Central Bank Governor Muhammad Al Jasser said.

Al Jasser said on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab central bank governors in Doha that the economic conditions in the Gulf are “excellent” for forming a monetary union and that a plan to launch a Gulf single currency was on track.

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Aldar Properties, the developer rescued by a $5.2 billion bailout by Abu Dhabi, swung to a second quarter net profit, helped by sales and rental income, and raised an additional Dh1.4 billion ($381.2 million) loan from banks.

The builder of the Yas Marina Formula One circuit made a second-quarter net profit of Dh127.3 million ($34.6 million) compared with a loss of Dh475.3 million in the same period last year, it said in a statement on Abu Dhabi's bourse on Thursday.

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Reflecting a growing economic development and promising investment opportunities, Dubai hit a new record growth of 34 per cent in direct trade exchange with the world in the first quarter of 2011, exceeding Dh183 billion against Dh136 billion over the same period in 2010.

Ahmed Butti, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, said that the statistics released showed a significant rise of 16 per cent in the weight of the exchanged goods up to 11.92 million tonnes from January to March this year compared to 10.25 million tonnes in the same period last year.

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