Yemen:  The US-Saudi aggression is escalating its economic war on Yemen by flooding Yemen with more loans, the latest of which was the agreement signed by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) with the Saudi-backed government. It includes providing a loan of one billion dollars with high interest preceded by the United States of America's assistance to the ٍSaudi-backed government by looting 300 million dollars from special drawing rights in the World Bank.

Economists have warned of the danger of these loans, which will have catastrophic effects on the Yemeni economy and exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance in Sana'a Ahmed Hajar said in a statement that the aim of the loan signed by the AMF with the pro-aggression government is to flood Yemen with loans as part of targeting the Yemeni economy. He explained that borrowing from the AMF is the largest, and the interest rate is many times that of loans from international institutions.

The danger of the loan, according to Hajar, lies in the fact that the projects that will be financed from the AMF loan are unknown, and they will certainly serve the countries involved in aggression, not the Yemeni society. The pro-aggression government not disclosing the details of this loan confirms the words of Hajar. As well as the statements that were reported by many media outlets on the part of officials in the authorities loyal to the coalition, which confirmed that the program will be under the supervision of the AMF as a technical support body and the Saudi Reconstruction Program as a supervisory body. The Saudi program will be led by the Saudi ambassador, Al Jaber, who is concerned with what was described as economic and governance reforms. This means that he will be the supervisor and holder of full powers over Yemeni economic institutions and resources. In addition, this money will not be transferred to the Central Bank, but will be spent directly by the Saudi ambassador, Al Jaber, on the plans of the program.

This raises many questions about the projects that will be implemented and whether the same scenario implemented by the Saudi Reconstruction Program and the relief project, which spent seventeen billion riyals on distributing dates and painting schools, will be repeated.

Sources of Financing Tools

Economists also put forward the hypothesis that the countries involved in aggression are seeking, through these steps, to provide sources of financing for their tools instead of the revenues of the national wealth that Sana’a prevented from plundering by banning the export of crude oil. In addition to fraud in order to continue plundering the wealth of the Yemeni people from oil and gas.

More Currency Printing

Economists, including the head of the Economic Forum Dr. Hamdan Al-Shami expected that the Saudi-backed government, with the availability of dollar cover, would introduce a new printing of the currency. The move will lead to a new collapse of the price of the Yemeni riyal, which represents a disaster for the national currency, especially in the occupied areas.

Sana'a Confirms the Illegality of Loans

Sana'a confirmed, through its Foreign Minister Hisham Sharaf, the illegality of the loan agreements signed by the Saudi-backed government, the latest of which is the loan agreement signed by the Saudi-backed government with the AMF.

The Foreign Minister also considered that the agreement falls within the framework of a political propaganda move sponsored by Saudi Arabia and does not serve the interests of Yemen and its people. He stressed that the agreement is unacceptable and therefore falls as one of the forms of future obstacles to arrangements or a consensual political settlement in the post-war period.

The Parliament in Sana’a also warned the Saudi-backed government against signing suspicious agreements and deals in the name of Yemen, the latest of which was the signing of two agreements, the first with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $300 million and the second with the AMF.

Source: YPA, Translated by Almasirah English website