Sanaa reveals meeting with UN envoy in Muscat regarding payment of salaries

MUSCAT, June. 01 (YPA) – Acting Chairman of the Supreme Economic Committee, governor of the Central Bank in Sanaa, Hashem Ismail, revealed a meeting held with the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, in the Omani capital Muscat, to discuss a mechanism regarding the payment of the state employees’ salaries.

The governor confirmed that the initiative of the Supreme Political Council to open a special account for salaries in the branch of the Central Bank in Hodeida, and to deposit the revenues of oil derivatives ships to it, has been in place since 2020.

“Despite the scarcity of these revenues, their supply to the account of salaries is still ongoing, including the revenues of the ships that entered under the armistice, and are used to disburse half a salary from time to time,” he added.

Ismail reiterated his readiness to coordinate any mechanisms that guarantee ending the suffering of employees in all provinces, and paying their salaries regularly, if the United Nations would bear or obliges the other party to cover the salary gap, in accordance with the Sweden agreement, signed in December 2018.

The governor touched on the monthly revenues of oil looted by the other party, which amount to approximately 260 million dollars per month, based on the average price of a barrel of 110 dollars, which is equivalent to 145 billion riyals and equal to twice the total of all the salaries of state employees.

It is useless for any truce that does not serve citizens, and does not contribute to alleviating their suffering caused by the war and siege imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, as well as the economic war that targets all the Yemeni people.

For his part, the UN envoy stressed that the file of state employees’ salaries would be a top priority to work it.

AA