The Governor of the Central Bank attacks the Ministry of Finance and reveals the theft of electricity fuel
English - Sunday 18 June 2023 الساعة 09:07 am
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
The Governor of the Central Bank of Yemen, Ahmed Ghaleb Al-Maabqi, attacked the Ministry of Finance, and said that it does not play its role, and does not have a financial policy or a general budget for the state, in addition to its fight against economic and corrective reforms, to which the state has committed itself to donors in return for releasing funds to support Yemen to get out of its crisis.
The governor of the Central Bank said, in an interview broadcast by Yemen TV, on Monday, that the problem facing the country is a financial problem that is greater than a monetary problem, stressing that the financial crisis can only be resolved by restoring the export of oil and gas, and activating the state's revenue institutions.
He added that the liberalization of the exchange rate of the customs dollar is the demand of donors and the only achievement that the government praises to organizations and donors, but the authority responsible for revenues - referring to the Ministry of Finance - is the one who opposes and fights this corrective measure with the aim of appearing in front the media.
And he added, "The citizen does not benefit from exempting the merchant from the customs exchange rate, as the merchant reflects the price of his commodity at the market price and evaluates the commodity prices at 1,500 riyals to the dollar, plus a margin of safety, and whoever fights corrective reforms gives the merchant support and deprives the citizen."
The governor of the Central Bank of Yemen said that the government and the ministry concerned with financial policy left him alone in the battle of reforms, curbing and fixing the price of the riyal at this level, and controlling the money supply, stressing that the central bank is the only economic institution in the country that operates with all its capacity and functions.
He explained that there is a shortcoming in the collection of state revenues, which currently amounts to 30% of total expenditures, although all customs and tax outlets are still in the areas controlled by the legitimate government, and the tax and customs revenues collected by the Houthi militia are four times more than what the legitimate government collects.
He said that electricity expenses are the black hole that devours all resources, and it is a big problem that everyone fails to solve, and the diesel on which power plants depend is smuggled and sold in the market.
He pointed out that the use of diesel to generate electricity carries great dangers and precautions and corruption, as part of the materials are smuggled and sold in the market through electricity-based institutions.
According to the latest World Bank report on Yemen, in 2021, the legitimate government spent an estimated $400 million on electricity fuel subsidies, which represents about a third of total expenditures and the lion's share of oil export revenues, while figures are not yet available for 2022. However, high international fuel prices have tripled spending on subsidies.
According to the report, despite massive public spending on the electricity sector, the electricity supply remains highly unreliable in towns and cities under the control of the legitimate government, prompting allegations of widespread fuel theft and corruption in the electricity sector.
