Here’s an Emirates Business 24/7 article of 25 August 2008.

GCC monetary union key to setting up a central bank
25 August 2008
http://www.zawya.com/printstory.cfm?storyid=ZAWYA20080825030212&l=030200080825

The first paragraph of the article says:
A Gulf Monetary Union should be a stepping stone to the formation of a Gulf central bank, said Dr Nasser Al Saidi, Chief Economist at the DIFC.

Ivo:
A stepping stone is a means of achievement, says Random House Webster’s dictionary.
GMU is a means of achieving a GCB, says the first paragraph.

The second paragraph of the article says:
“One of the critical steps in the preparation for monetary union is the definition of the institutional and governance structure and design of the Gulf central bank. In this area there has been an intense debate among the GCC authorities, but little has transpired so far. This is the last major hurdle on the road to monetary union,” Dr Al Saidi said.

Ivo;
The second paragraph says that the definition of the institutional and governance structure and design of the GCB is a necessary condition for the preparation of GMU.
The second paragraph thus says that the GCB is a means of achieving GMU.

CONCLUSION
GMU is a means of achieving a GCB, says the first paragraph.
The second paragraph says that the GCB is a means of achieving GMU.

Oil producers are converting their petrodollars into the tangible wealth of gold.
That’s why both are linked.

Once gold will assume its correct value, oil will also assume its correct value.

Both will be marked to market (MTM).

If oil does not follow gold’s rise, oil producers will no longer be able to convert their petro-eurogulfs to gold at the same rate as now.

As I said this morning in
Gold is wealth - September 18th, 2008 by Ivo Cerckel
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US central bank, has lost control. Gold and oil wealth now controls everything.
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2008/09/18/gold-is-wealth/

Monika Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes Holding, Egypt’s largest investment bank, does not like that

She thinks that Gulf Monetary Union (GMU) is about a single currency.

Oman thinks otherwise.

Oman thinks that GMU is about pooling the gold reserves of the GCC states and marking these reserves to market.

That’s what  the GCC Rulers will endorse in November 2008.

They will meet to that effect in November 2008  in … Muscat.

And yes, Muscat is the capital of … Oman.

From The Times
September 18, 2008
Gulf finance ministers back single currency plan
Sonia Verma in Dubai
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4775451.ece
SNIP
Furthermore, as a unified trading bloc, the Gulf would raise its profile on the world stage, allowing it to leverage its oil wealth collectively.
Detractors argue that it would never work in a region ruled by autocrats. Monica Malik, chief economist at EFG-Hermes said: “The easy bit is what they’ve just agreed to. The hard part is coming up.”
“You have to take this with a grain of salt. Because the Gulf economies are so similar to each other, the trade possibilities are not as pronounced,” Eckart Wörtz, an economist with the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, said.

For Oman, GMU is MTM of gold reserves by GMA/GMC
September 16th, 2008 by Ivo Cerckel
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2008/09/16/for-oman-gmu-is-mtm-of-gold-reserves-by-gmagmc/

ivocerckel@siquijor.ws

Gold is not money, nor hedge.

Gold is wealth.

Panic grips credit markets
By Krishna Guha in Washington, Michael Mackenzie in New York and Gillian Tett in London
Published: September 17 2008 18:23 | Last updated: September 18 2008 00:01
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8058d308-84d3-11dd-b148-0000779fd18c.html
SNIP
The panic in world credit markets reached historic intensity on Wednesday, prompting a flight to safety of the kind not seen since the second world war.
Barometers of financial stress hit record peaks across the world. Yields on short-term US Treasuries hit their lowest level since the London Blitz, while gold had its biggest one-day gain ever in dollar terms. Lending between banks, in effect, stopped. UNSNIP

Then an odd thought overtook her.
Do not seek for reason in the specific patterns of stars, or of other scattered arrangements of objects
Look instead for a deeper universal order in the way that things behave
(Roger Penrose, “The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe”, London,  Jonathan Cape, 2004, p.5)

How does gold behave?

Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US central bank, has lost control.
Gold and oil wealth now controls everything.

Economist recounts talk with Fed chairman
By Joshua Boak | Chicago Tribune reporter
September 17, 2008
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed_oilsep17,0,4833605.story
SNIP
“We have lost control,” said Hale, quoting Bernanke.

ivocerckel@siquijor.ws