Yemen needs $11 billion in donor funding

Sana’a: Yemen needs $11 billion of foreign aid to support a programme for reviving the economy after last year’s uprising that forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office in February, a government official said.

“The economic situation is very difficult,” Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammad Al Saadi said in an interview in Sana’a. “The Yemeni government can provide about $2 billion, so there is a funding gap of about $11 billion.”

Potential donors will gather at a conference in Riyadh on September 4-5 and make pledges at the Yemen Friends meeting that will be held September 27 in New York, he said.

Turmoil continues in Yemen even after a peace accord under which Saleh stepped down following months of protests against his 33-year rule and was replaced by Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, his deputy. Hadi is trying to reorganise the armed forces and bring stability to the impoverished Arab nation, which is struggling with secessionist movements in the north and south, street protesters demanding more change and Al Qaida militants who have used Yemen as a base to attack targets in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the US.

Yemen needs $4.8 billion in emergency aid to meet humanitarian needs, control the budget deficit, complete the power transition and become stable, Al Saadi said.

“The political promises will not be credible unless they are supported by financial and economic pledges,” he said. “We know that the political solution that has been accepted by Yemenis was backed by economic aid promises.”

During the Riyadh conference, Yemen will offer the private sector and foreign investors $5.7 billion of strategic investment projects that cover industries including transport, electricity and energy, oil and minerals, he said.