RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced it would transfer $2 billion to Yemen’s central bank, after desperate calls for funding from the war-torn country’s president and prime minister.
“To address the deteriorating economic situation faced by the Yemeni people as a result of the actions of the Houthi rebels, King Salman bin Abdulaziz has issued a directive to transfer a $2bn deposit to the central bank of Yemen, in continuation of the kingdom’s support of the Yemeni people,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
Saudi Arabia, which is facing a hefty budget deficit, leads a military coalition that is battling the Huthi rebels alongside the Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
In a report published by Gulf news on November 14, 2017, stated that Saudi Arabia has pledged to inject $2 billion into Yemen’s central bank which is currently based in Aden to support the country’s devastated economy and help stabilise the currency.
The internationally–recognised president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi said on Monday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman would make the injection in order to curb the depreciation of the Yemeni riyal, which has dipped drastically due to the country’s ongoing war.
Riyadh would also buy fuel for Yemeni power plants and pay for basic infrastructure projects in liberated areas. However, in a meeting with a government-appointed commission tasked to follow up with reconstruction plans, Hadi said work would be begin in liberated areas starting from January next year.
