- The year 2022 has ended, bringing with it the uncertain economic developments to the year 2023. There are efforts to renew the UN-brokered truce towards a comprehensive settlement, while the government of the Supreme Political Council in Sana’a is calling for associating the truce with the humanitarian file, represented by the payment of the public sector employees’ salaries, which have been disrupted since August 2016.
- During a meeting with the Omani delegation, the President of the Supreme Political Council in Sana’a renews calls for the payment of salaries to all public sector employees from oil and gas revenues, and the reopening of airports and seaports as a condition for renewing the truce.
- Sana’a Government confirmed that the top priority in negotiations is to pay salaries to all public sector employees in all governorates, without exception, from oil and gas revenues, in accordance with the 2014 budget. The salaries should be disbursed regularly and the blockade on ports and airports should be lifted.
- During December 2022, the value of the Yemeni Riyal in the areas of Aden government has deteriorated amounting to 1,200 Yemeni Riyals per a US dollar. Meanwhile, the Yemeni public street continues to resent the high rocketing of prices of the needed basic commodities in such difficult circumstances, coinciding with the salary interruption, the currency value deterioration, as well as the suspension of some of the UN agencies’ operations. On the contrary, Aden Government is focusing on the issue of obtaining external financial support.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sana’a affirms that any truce must be based on lifting restrictions on Hodeidah port, a comprehensive opening of Sana’a International Airport, stopping the looting of oil wealth, and allocating its revenues to paying public sector employees’ salaries in all governorates of the Republic.
- While the country is undergoing difficult circumstances and citizens are experiencing severe living conditions, as well as the humanitarian catastrophe, the lack of services and the failure to pay the salaries of employees, the government of mercenaries in Aden has raised the profit tax by 200%. The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Sana’a stated that such a tax hike violates the income tax law, affects merchants and consumers, and will raise the prices of food commodities.
- The Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority (CAMA) in Sana’a states that it will rehabilitate and operate Hodeidah airport. It further clarified that the damage to this airport amounted to about 22 million and 450 thousand dollars. It also called for an increase in the number of flights to and from Sana’a International Airport, as the permitted three flights per week are insufficient to meet travel needs.
- The Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a stated that the negative impacts of Hodeidah seaport closure before containers has led to an increase in transportation fares from other sea and land ports by 300%. The chamber called for reopening the port to reduce the cost of commodities by more than 20% of the current cost.
- The Saudi-led Coalition continues to detain oil derivatives ships, despite completing all the procedures of inspection through the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism in Djibouti (UNVIM) and obtaining UN pass permits confirming that the cargo conforms to the stipulated standards for docking at Hodeidah port. Consequently, this raises the ships’ demurrage charges, increasing the charges on the citizens, and exacerbating the suffering of the Yemeni people.
- Despite their assertion and vigorous follow-up of extending the UN-declared truce, the Saudi-led Coalition of War on Yemen continues to directly target economic facilities and services with a view to achieving the maximum possible extent in increasing the human suffering of the Yemeni people.
