Yemeni government officials described the report by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen regarding its policy of subsidizing basic commodities as “illogical.”
It said that it is “unacceptable, especially since these measures alleviated an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis that would have led to famine in Yemen.”
In a virtual meeting held on Wednesday with the UN team, the Yemeni government explained why allegations raised by the experts’ report are misguided.
A statement reported by the official news agency Saba said the meeting was held to “reject and respond to what was stated in the committee’s recent report, which contained false information and incorrect conclusions, including those regarding a Saudi deposit, as well as accusations directed against the Yemeni government.”
In the statement, government representatives presented “mistakes in the calculation and comparison of commodity prices in the period highlighted by the report, stressing their rejection of the findings."
The Yemeni officials said that the team was supposed to meet with the relevant authorities and specialized government agencies before issuing the report to double check the information, especially since the government is transparently cooperating with the team.
For their part, the UN experts thanked the officials for their clarifications regarding the report and said they are expecting a written version to be submitted in the next few days.
Representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture, Trade, Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs took part in the meeting to facilitate processing donor pledges and support reforms.
