News - Yemen: The external debt of the Saudi-backed government has reportedly surged to around $7 billion, as the Saudi-Emirati-occupied Yemeni provinces face a severe economic crisis marked by collapsing foreign reserves and deepening poverty — developments that experts warn could trigger a new wave of financial and social instability.

According to a report published by Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the regime’s domestic debt has also exceeded 11 trillion Yemeni riyals, amid the absence of reliable financial data and mounting arrears owed to creditors. The paper noted that this mounting debt poses a serious challenge to the so-called Central Bank in Aden, which continues to struggle with liquidity shortages and policy mismanagement.

The report, citing economic analysts, revealed that approximately $190 billion has been siphoned out of Yemen since the start of the Saudi-American aggression due to the failed economic policies of the mercenary administration. This massive capital flight, experts said, has drained national resources, eroded currency reserves, and limited the Aden-based bank’s ability to finance imports for more than a few weeks.

Economists stressed that any path toward recovery requires a comprehensive peace settlement, unified fiscal and monetary policies, and structural reforms aimed at improving revenues and controlling public spending. They warned that continued division, financial deficits, and political fragmentation would keep Yemen’s economy trapped in a spiral of contraction and chaos.

The warnings coincide with the Saudi-backed government’s renewed drive for foreign borrowing under the terms set by the IMF and World Bank, which include lifting subsidies on basic services and raising taxes and customs fees to match the dollar exchange rate in the occupied areas. These measures, analysts caution, are likely to exacerbate the suffering of ordinary citizens and further burden the already impoverished population.

Residents of the Saudi-Emirati-occupied provinces continue to endure rapid currency depreciation, soaring prices, and the collapse of essential services, as the mercenary authorities fail to implement any effective reforms or curb rampant financial mismanagement fueling the ongoing economic deterioration.

Since the onset of the US-Saudi aggression on Yemen in March 2015, the country has been effectively divided between areas administered by the National Salvation Government in Sana’a and those under Saudi-Emirati occupation. The Saudi-backed government has faced chronic fiscal collapse following the relocation of the Central Bank to Aden in 2016.The move cut off financial coordination with Sana’a, triggering a split in monetary policy and accelerating the depreciation of the Aden-printed currency.

Over the past years, these regions have witnessed soaring inflation, unpaid public sector salaries, and widespread unemployment, as foreign loans and IMF-linked policies deepen dependency and worsen living conditions for millions of Yemenis.