A specialized Yemeni government committee confirmed that measures taken on port revenues by authorities managed to collect about 52 million dollars in three months, topped by the port of Hodeidah, with nearly 23 million dollars.
The economic committee said in a statement that these funds collected from imports and in port revenues will help pay the salaries of public service employees in areas controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias. The payments will be made according to a UN plan.
It also stressed that these funds will contribute to financing the state budget deficit. Effectively collecting port revenues serves as a clear indicative for the government’s success in implementing sovereign laws and a move in the right direction towards economic stability.
Forty-four percent of revenues came from Hodeidah port, followed by Aden port at 35 percent Mukalla port with 16 percent and finally the Nashitun port in Al-Mahra governorate, which accounted for 5 percent of total revenues.
Since August, the government started implementing port measures that impose paying fuel import duties in the form of customs and taxes given to the war-torn country’s Central Bank in the interim capital of Aden.
The economic committee also said it had granted “four fuel ships entry permits to unload to the port of Hodeidah upon the request of the UN Special Envoy’s office.”
In previous statements, the economic committee accused the Houthis militias of standing behind the suspension of shipments of fuel off of Hodeidah port and of delaying entry procedures and unloading of cargo.
The government committee said the militias had stopped eight fuel tankers from docking at Hodeidah by preventing traders from submitting documents for government authorization. Houthis have been trying to create and prolong a fuel crisis in Yemen.
