Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
The Head of the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen, Rashad Al-Alimi, stated on Saturday that the improvement in the international community’s confidence in the government represents an “important but not guaranteed opportunity,” warning that any retreat in economic reforms or duality in decision-making could undermine recently achieved gains.
Al-Alimi’s remarks came during a meeting in the temporary capital, Aden, with the government delegation returning from the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, in the presence of the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and several senior economic officials.
The delegation reviewed the results of the meetings, pointing to what they described as positive impressions from donors and international institutions toward the government’s performance and the path of financial and administrative reforms, in addition to the resumption of communication with the IMF and international financing programs.
Al-Alimi welcomed this development, considering it a reflection of Yemen’s return to the path of organized international support and the government’s ability to manage financial pledges efficiently. However, he stressed the need to move from the stage of restoring confidence to establishing a sustainable partnership with the international community.
He emphasized that the priority in the coming phase is to implement the reform program transparently and to link any foreign support to tangible results, especially in the basic services sector, alongside improving the management of public resources and enhancing sovereign revenues.
Furthermore, he called for closing government accounts outside the Central Bank, channeling all revenues into the general account, and activating oversight bodies and automating financial operations as part of efforts to combat corruption and enhance governance.
Al-Alimi linked the improvement in the international position to the support provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, describing it as an essential element in the stability of the Yemeni economy and support for the implementation of reforms.
He added that the results of the Washington meetings represent an important political and economic opportunity, asserting that maintaining them requires swift and decisive government measures to bolster confidence and achieve concrete results on the ground.
Seems like international support is key for Yemen’s economy. I wonder how they plan to balance those decisions moving forward.