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 Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.