TEHRAN Persian Gulf Arab finance ministers and Central Bank governors will hold a joint meeting with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Horst Koehler in Bahrain on Saturday, a Persian Gulf official said on Wednesday.

Ajlan bin Ali al-Kawari, assistant secretary general for economic affairs at the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), said in a statement the meeting will discuss world economic developments and moves by PGCC member states to make their economies more competitive to lure foreign investments.

The PGCC groups Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Saturday's meeting comes ahead of a summit by Persian Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain on May 14, Reuters said.

Leaders of oil-rich Persian Gulf Arab states agreed at a summit last year on steps to issue a unified currency. They also approved that the U.S. dollar would be the common denominator for the planned single currency.

Currencies of all PGCC states, with the exception of Kuwait, are pegged to the U.S. dollar, in which their main crude oil export is traded. Kuwait's dinar is currently linked to a basket of currencies.

PGCC leaders in 1999 agreed to unify their customs tariffs at between 5.5 percent and 7.5 percent by March 2005.

The move to create common tariffs is part of a wider plan by the PGCC for a regional currency and a unified trade zone, and is designed to speed up free trade talks with the region's biggest trading partner, the European Union.

The statement said PGCC finance ministers and Central Bank governors would also hold separate talks in Bahrain on Saturday to discuss necessary steps to reach a unified currency.

Another PGCC statement said Persian Gulf Arab finance ministers would meet in Bahrain on Friday to coordinate their policies ahead of their meeting with the IMF.