(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have called on Yemen to adopt further reforms to raise the rate of economic growth to exit the fragile economic situation and get its share of international aid.
According to the official news agency (Saba), the WB said that Yemen's economic recovery is still weak, although it is estimated that Yemen's economy has grown by about 2.4 per cent in 2012 after a slide into recession in 2011 and the shrinkage in the gross domestic product (GDP) by about 12.7 per cent.
The latest evaluation reports of the Yemeni economy issued by the World Bank showed that the budget deficit has expanded to reach 6.2 per cent of the GDP in 2012, while the current account deficit dropped to about 1 per cent of GDP, the agency said.
"Three grants oil from Saudi Arabia, each of one worth one billion dollars, have helped in the stability of the situation of the Yemeni economy in general .. However, the improvement in the economic prospects will depend on the progress made at the political and economic levels, and continued support of donors and implementation of the critical reforms," the Bank said in its latest report.
The World Bank touched on the challenges facing Yemen at the present. The Bank said: "Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, and it is estimated that poverty rates - that were in an actual increase before the recent political crisis - has increased from 42 per cent of the population in 2009 to 54.5 per cent in 2012."
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