The fund should also work on bridging economic disparities among the GCC member states, Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa said in an interview published on the bloc's July news bulletin Almaseera.

The GCC aims to forge an economic and monetary union emulating the eurozone, some of whose members have recently run into serious fiscal problems.

"Bahrain put forward in December ... a proposal to set up a fund dedicated to support fiscal stability and economic growth in GCC countries. The proposal is currently under examination," Sheikh Ahmed said in the undated interview.

"The proposal aims mainly at creating a mechanism that would provide necessary support to member states if needed, in a way that would ensure both a convergence of economic models within the GCC and similar standards of living for its citizens," he added.

Bahrain is a small oil producer and does not have the fiscal clout of other GCC member states.

It ran a budget deficit last year for the first time in at least four years as oil prices remained below its budget breakeven estimated at $70 to $80 per barrel, one of the highest in the Gulf.

The fund would support any GCC member state affected by "urgent fiscal and economic crises, to help counter the negative repercussions of these crises on both the affected member state and the region as a whole," he said.