Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the economic effect of regulating (a) imports, (b) commercial banks and (c) money exchangers in Yemen on Houthi revenues in that country.

The Department for International Development does not have insight into how Houthi revenue flows have changed over time. The UK condemns Houthi interference in the operations of local banks in north Yemen, including the arrest of banking staff in February 2019.

Effective economic regulations, alongside appropriate economic policies, will have critical humanitarian benefits in Yemen. Whilst the latest total food import levels into Yemen have exceeded pre-conflict requirements, high prices continue to drive the risk of famine.

The need for effective economic regulation was demonstrated last year, when the Yemeni Riyal lost more than half of its value between January and October 2018. This caused prices to rise steeply and risked making food unaffordable for millions of vulnerable Yemenis. This depreciation was reversed after UK-led efforts released over $400 million of hard currency (provided by Saudi Arabia), to importers bringing food into the country.

We will continue to constructively engage with the Government of Yemen to prevent any repeated depreciation, and to stabilise Yemen’s economy through more effective and transparent management of its public finance.