Saudi Arabia sponsors $1B AMF deal to support Yemen economic reform program

Sponsored by Saudi Arabia, the Arab Monetary Fund signed a $1 billion agreement with the Yemeni government to support an economic, financial and monetary reform program, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Sunday.

The Kingdom’s Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan said that the program aims to help support the Yemeni government’s effort to strengthen its financial status, develop the country’s banking sector and provide a boost to its private sector and economic development.

The AMF-led program, which will run until 2025, seeks to establish the foundations of economic, financial and monetary stability in Yemen and rebuild its institutions, providing a push for social development, job creation and sustainable economic growth.

The program will see the development of the financial sector’s public resources and enhance the government’s efficiency.

Saudi Arabia’s sponsorship of the agreement comes as an extension of its support for the Yemeni economy to help improve the daily life of its war-weary people.

According to SPA, the Kingdom deposited $1 billion in 2021 and $2 billion in 2018 to cover the import of basic food commodities such as wheat grains, flour, rice, milk, cooking oil and sugar. These contributions improved Yemen’s standard of living and human development index and strengthened the central bank’s foreign reserves.

Saudi Arabia contributed around 30 percent of the total support provided to Yemen between 2001 and 2022, topping the list of donor countries, SPA added.