Yemen: The Sovereign Revenues Committee Follows Up on the Level of Implementation of Decisions

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Arabian Sea - Yemen - Follow-ups: The Supreme Committee for Sovereign and Local Revenues held its periodic meeting today, Tuesday, in the interim capital, Aden, chaired by the member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Major General Aidaroos al-Zubaidi. The meeting was devoted to following up on the level of implementation of the outcomes of the committee's previous meetings, and discussing a number of reports submitted by the relevant ministries and institutions, related to improving financial performance, enhancing revenues, and regulating sovereign and local resources. The meeting began with listening to a report presented by the Minister of Oil and Minerals, Dr. Saeed Al-Shamasi, on the level of coordination with the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to provide the necessary funding to operate the Aden Refineries Company, in accordance with the outcomes of previous meetings, and the meeting held at the company's headquarters earlier this week, chaired by Major General Aidaroos Al-Zubaidi. The meeting also discussed the report submitted by the Minister of Electricity, Engineer Maneh Al-Nahdi, which dealt with the progress made regarding the renewal of the contract for supplying oil to power plants in the interim capital, Aden, and the measures taken regarding the provision of a shipment of imported oil derivatives for electricity in implementation of the committee's decisions in its previous meetings. Major General Al-Zubaidi stressed the need to redouble efforts to secure the fuel necessary to operate power plants to reduce frequent outages, pointing to the importance of integrating roles between the relevant ministries to ensure the stability of energy supplies to alleviate the suffering of citizens in the hot summer weather in Aden and other coastal governorates. On another aspect, the committee reviewed the achievements of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance regarding inventorying and classifying the accounts of government agencies with commercial banks and exchange companies, in preparation for closing them in implementation of the committee's decisions aimed at tightening financial control and preventing any duplication or tampering with public revenues. In a related context, the committee reviewed a set of executive measures to address the existing imbalances in the tax and customs sector, which aim to improve institutional performance, expand the tax collection base, and increase the volume of sovereign revenues, in a way that contributes to supporting the state treasury and meeting necessary needs. The meeting also discussed the list of financial uses for government agencies and economic and service units that have not complied with paying their tax fees, and the procedures implemented by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to deal with those agencies in accordance with the laws in force, and in a way that ensures their commitment to fulfilling their financial obligations towards the state. At the conclusion of the meeting, the member of the Leadership Council stressed the importance of redoubling efforts by all relevant government institutions, and the need for the leadership of the institutions to demonstrate responsibility and strict adherence to transparency, financial and administrative discipline, stressing that organizing resources and enhancing revenues are the basic pillar for achieving financial stability, enabling the government to fulfill its obligations towards citizens.