Yemen’s Foreign Debt from $8.9 mil to $5.9 bil, with $1.3b owed to Russia
The Yemen Observer is an English language Yemeni government mouthpiece in disguise, as is obvious from their reporting, ownership and associates, but every now and then the paper gives a factual account when it works to the advantage of the regime. Russia’s Mig upgrades added a lot to the Yemeni debt. The potential Russian use of Yemeni ports has been thrown around as a possible offset.
Yemen’s foreign debt has increased from $8.9 million to $5.9 billion since July 2009, according to the report on banking and currency developments issued by the Yemen Central Bank.
The IFC’s institutions topped Yemen creditors, with Yemen owing them about $3 billion, including $2.2 billion for the International Development Foundation.
The rest of the debt was for the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Fund for Agriculture Development IFAD, the Islamic Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OPEC and the EU.
Yemen’s debt for the Paris Club Members came second by about $1.8 billion, with $1.3 billion in Russian loans.
Many outstanding loans come from Japanese, U.S., French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Dutch and German sources.
The country’s debt for other creditors came in the third place with Yemen owing Saudi, Kuwaiti, Chinese, Algerian, Korean, Polish and Iraqi funds about $836 million. The debt for unidentified sources reached $195.7 million by July.
In 2003, the Yemen Central Bank established a debt unit within foreign loans and grants department to be responsible for collecting information about Yemen loans, grants and how they are spent and settled.
