Yemen / TEH: On Tuesday, the Yemeni government announced its need for three-tiered economic support to prevent the collapse of state institutions and the country’s entry into starvation.
The official Yemeni news agency SABA quoted Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed as saying that “there are three levels of economic support that can prevent the collapse of economic institutions and services and entering into famine.”
He added that these levels are “receiving support in the field of currency stability, achieving food security, and the state’s provision of basic services, especially water, electricity, health, education, and payment of salaries.”
For months, Yemen has been suffering from a severe economic crisis , as the exchange rate of one dollar exceeded 1,000 riyals in government areas, compared to 215 riyals before the outbreak of the war in 2015.
Abdul Malik pointed out that there is coordination with “the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and brothers and friends of donor countries and organizations to provide emergency economic support to the government to help it fulfill its obligations.”
He stated that “the rise in the prices of foodstuffs and fuel against the decline in the local currency has crushed the purchasing power of citizens.”
Yemen has been witnessing for more than 7 years a continuous war between the pro-government forces backed by an Arab military alliance led by neighboring Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian-backed Houthis , who have controlled several governorates, including the capital, Sana’a, since September 2014.
Until the end of 2021, the war had claimed 377,000 lives, and cost Yemen’s economy $126 billion in losses, according to the United Nations .
Most of the country’s population of about 30 million people has become dependent on aid, in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
