"Presidential" government solutions.. Compensating oil revenues from citizens' sustenance
English - Thursday 12 January 2023 الساعة 08:47 am
Aden, NewsYemen, exclusive:
Official documents revealed a number of decisions issued by the legitimate government in Aden to address the crisis of halting oil export revenues as a result of the attacks launched by the Houthi militia on export ports in the liberated areas.
The documents referred to decisions issued by the Economic Council recently, aiming in their entirety to raise the percentage of revenues collected in the liberated areas to compensate for the interruption of revenues from crude oil exported 3 months ago.
On top of these decisions is the approval of raising the customs price on imported goods from 500 riyals to 750 riyals for the US dollar, with the exception of basic materials from this decision.
The Economic Council also issued a decision to gradually raise the consumption tariff for water and electricity services in the liberated areas, without clarifying the rate of raising, in addition to raising the selling price of locally refined oil derivatives in Marib from 175 riyals per liter to 487.5 riyals. As well as raising the price of a gas cylinder from 2100 riyals to 3000 riyals.
The government was quick to implement these decisions, especially the decision to raise the customs dollar tariff by 50%, starting yesterday, Tuesday, which was met with widespread rejection by importers who carried out a comprehensive strike and refrained from clearing their transactions in the free zone customs campus in Aden.
The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry also attacked this decision, describing it as a "crazy step," warning that it would increase the suffering of citizens due to the high prices of imported goods and commodities, hinting at resorting to the judiciary and filing a lawsuit against the Ministry of Finance.
These decisions come within the efforts of the government and the Presidential Council to contain the repercussions of the interruption of crude oil export revenues, which constitute about two-thirds of revenues in the general budget, according to the latest report issued by the Central Bank in Aden.
The bank’s report, issued on the first half of the current year 2022 , indicates that oil revenues during this period amounted to about 836 billion riyals out of total public revenues, which amounted to about 1222 billion riyals, meaning that they represent about 68% of total public revenues, while the total Non-oil revenues are only about 386 billion.
The government's attempts to compensate for this large shortfall in revenues by doubling non-oil revenues, specialists see as an incomplete solution if it does not coincide with serious steps by the government to reduce expenditures and take real and strict measures to stop all forms of corruption and financial and administrative tampering, to reduce expenditures.
Specialists point out that the government is unable to collect all central revenues into the accounts of the Central Bank in Aden, especially the revenues from the sale of oil derivatives and local gas in Marib, as the authorities there still categorically refuse to supply them to the bank in Aden.
Inferred by what was stated in the decisions of the Economic Council to raise the price of gas cylinders sold in Marib from 2100 riyals to 3000 riyals, while the Marib authorities had decided about a year ago to raise the price to 3550 riyals, which reflects the extent of the government's ignorance of the domestic gas file.
Specialists warn that the repercussions of stopping oil exports do not stop at the issue of revenues, but rather the most important repercussions are the effects of stopping oil revenues on the stability of the local currency given that it is one of the most important sources of hard currency, in light of the government’s inability since the formation of the Presidential Leadership Council 9 months ago to fulfill With the conditions and obligations associated with the provision of the deposit by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
