ICP
Asks IMF Saudi
Mission Chief
Tim Callen
About Yemen
Operation,
Budget
Pressure
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 9 --
On the
International
Monetary
Fund's
embargoed
conference
call about
Saudi Arabia
on September
9, Inner City
Press asked
the IMF's
mission chief
Tim Callen
about the
impact of the
military
operations on
Yemen.
Callen
told Inner
City Press,
"it's clear
that the
operations are
going to have
an impact.
It's going to
be one of the
areas of
pressure on
the budget as
we move
forward as the
operations
proceed."
Inner City
Press asked
about
after-operation
costs and
Callen said
the IMF hasn't
considered these.
The
underlying IMF
Staff Report
says only that
"the cost of
military
operations in
Yemen is
uncertain at
this
juncture."
The three
other questioners
on the call
were, from
Riyadh,
Reuters and a
newspaper, and
from Washington,
the Financial
Times. No more
was said about
the military
operations on
Yemen.
Back on April
17 at the
IMF's annual
meeting, Inner
City Press
asked, "On
Yemen, given
the fighting,
airstrikes and
uncertainly,
any update on
the IMF's
first review?
Any contacts
with Hadi
government or
Houthis since
March 26? What
is the IMF's
view of
regional
economic
impacts?"
The
IMF's Masood
Ahmed replied
that the IMF's
first review
remains “on
hold until
political
situation
clarifiies and
until we can
then assess
impact on
economy.”
He said “the
impact of
the
crisis and
conflict in
Yemen is first
and formost
humanitarian,
the real cost
is the human
cost. The
economy is
contracting,
oil production
is 40% lower,
public
spending and
review is 1/3
down, reserves
are down 1/4
this year.”
And so, Masood
Ahmed of the
IMF told Inner
City Press,
“so leads us
to have our
own small
voice to call
trying to find
quickly a
solution to
ending the
conflict in
Yemen so the
efforts the
government was
already trying
to make last
year to
improve
economic
situation
could be
continued.”
But what are
the prospects
of Hadi
returning to
power? Now the
UN has removed
Jamal Benomar
as mediator,
slated to be
replaced by
one chosen by
Saudi Arabia.
Is that
sustainable?
Back
on March 26
amid the
ongoing
airstrikes in
Yemen, Inner
City Press
asked the IMF
about the
status of its
program in the
country.
IMF Deputy
Spokesperson
William Murray
said that the
first review
is postponed
until things
clarify.
Back on
January 22,
Murray had
answered Inner
City Press
that while
events in
Yemen were not
helpful, the
review was not
until Spring.
Now it is
postponed
indefinitely.
On March 26,
Inner City
Press asked
Murray if the
IMF has had
any contact
with the
Houthis. No,
seemed to be
the answer -
certainly not
in recent
days, Murray
specified.
Murray
declined a
follow up
question about
the impact on
oil markets.
Now on April
17 Masood
Ahmed has
provided some
figures.
Also
on April 17
Inner City
Press asked
the IMF, "on
Vanuatu, it's
said that even
after Cyclone
Pam the
country is not
eligible for
the IMF's
Catastrophe
Containment
and Relief
Trust. Is that
true, and what
could be done
given that
only two
small-island
states are
eligible,
despite high
debts and
storm risks?"
The
IMF's Hoe Ee
Khor replied
that "We have
a mission in
Vanuatu right
now. We are in
the process of
trying to draw
up the
program. The
amount we have
access to is
22 million
SDR. It's
small relative
to the size of
the damages.”
Video
here.
He said
the IMF is
working on the
“macro
economic
framework”
which may
trigger more
financing from
Australia, New
Zealand and
other IFIs
like the ADB
and World
Bank.
There is a
similar
problem at the
World Bank,
with countries
like Lebanon
and Jordan and
some in West
Africa not
eligible for
financing
needed to deal
with refugees.
And now more
refugees are
being created,
for example
from Yemen.
And so it
goes.
, 
