Yemeni Officials, Experts Call for Using New Saudi Deposit for Economic Reform

Yemeni Officials, Experts Call for Using New Saudi Deposit for Economic Reform

Yemenis are optimistic that a Saudi deposit in the Central Bank will contribute to economic recovery, stop the collapse of the local currency, and control prices, especially with the approach of the month of Ramadan.

Saudi Arabia deposited $1 billion in the Central Bank of Yemen’s legitimate government, in a bid to bolster the economy.

Yemeni economic researcher Abdel-Hamid al-Masajdi said that any new deposit or foreign exchange resources would contribute to improving the value of the local currency.

In light of the challenges facing the government, this deposit will have a temporary impact on the value of the Yemeni currency, Masajdi told Asharq Al-Awsat, calling on the government to rely on its own resources, including revenues from oil and gas sales, and non-oil resources, such as tax, customs and fees collected centrally or through local authorities in the governorates, in addition to grants and subsidies.

The Yemeni researcher pointed to the importance of developing a system to raise the efficiency of collecting these resources, in cooperation between the security and executive authorities.

Saudi Arabia had previously deposited $2 billion dollars in 2018 to support the Yemeni currency. The Central Bank used most of the deposit to help finance the import of basic food commodities