Yemeni PM Asserts Efforts to Fight Corruption, Implement Reforms

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik during the meeting with Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) and Finance Ministry officials (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik during the meeting with Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) and Finance Ministry officials (Saba News Agency)
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Yemeni PM Asserts Efforts to Fight Corruption, Implement Reforms

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik during the meeting with Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) and Finance Ministry officials (Saba News Agency)
Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik during the meeting with Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) and Finance Ministry officials (Saba News Agency)

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik said the government is determined to continue fighting corruption and implement more economic reforms.

Official sources stated that Abdulmalik chaired a meeting in the interim capital Aden with the leaderships of the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) and Finance Ministry to discuss economic and living conditions.

State-owned Saba agency reported that the meeting was attended by Finance Minister Salim bin Bureik and CBY Governor Ahmed Ghalib. The officials examined the level of implementation of financial and monetary reforms.

The meeting also addressed enhancing transparency, governance, and the subsequent measures in light of the government's policies to achieve economic stability.

It also discussed the coordination between fiscal and monetary policy and aspects of integration to control the exchange rates, increase public revenues, urgently address deficiencies in administrative aspects, combat corruption, and enhance integrity.

The officials reviewed the agreement between the CYB and the Ministry and the measures in coordination between the two entities to tackle some irregularities.

The PM stressed the necessity of uniting all efforts to overcome the difficulties resulting from the exceptional conditions. He also thanked the Coalition to Support Legitimacy led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE for their generous and continuous support for Yemen and its people.

Abdulmalik asserted that the government's reform plan in the economic, financial, and administrative field should be implemented without any delay, lauding the outstanding efforts of the Finance Ministry and the CYB leaderships.

He indicated that the noticeable improvement in the exchange rate came from the reforms, asserting that it will be reinforced shortly by additional measures and support from Yemen's partners and friends.

Abdulmalik promised the situation would witness a significant breakthrough soon, asserting the importance of an "economic battle."

"We will achieve a victory in our economic battle similar to the military victories achieved in Shabwa, Marib, and the rest of the battlefronts against Iran's bloody project in Yemen through its proxies, the Houthi militia."

The Finance Minister presented a report about the Ministry's plan to improve taxes and customs revenues, fight taxes evasion, and boost oil proceeds.

CYB governor provided a report about the fiscal year 2021, and the measures taken in coordination with the government and the Finance Ministry to tackle some irregularities.



US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by the Hamas group before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be "hell to pay", if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
"There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet," he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel's military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
"We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.