PRESS PLAYS ON EXAGGERATED ECONOMIC FEARS, ROYG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 000819

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2008
TAGS: ECON ETRD EPET YM ECON COM
SUBJECT: PRESS PLAYS ON EXAGGERATED ECONOMIC FEARS, ROYG
PUNCHES BACK

Classified By: Classified by A/DCM Ken McKune for reasons 1.5 b. and d.


1. (C) Summary: Grave economic consequences from the war in
Iraq have been predicted in both official and unofficial
Yemeni press. However, most of the articles have been based
on conjecture and faulty math. In response, ROYG officials
have been reinforcing positive economic news and developing
new trade and supply policies to assure the public that the
economy is stable. End Summary.


2. (U) Press reports in both the official and opposition
media have run several stories projecting a severe negative
impact to the economy of Yemen from the war in Iraq. One
popular scenario predicts budget losses to the ROYG economy
if oil drops to $8 a barrel. Another, repeated frequently in
the English language press, is that the Ministry of Industry
and Trade has launched an initiative to fix the prices on
thirteen essential commodities. To counter this, the ROYG
officials have been promoting a new trade and supply policy,
making several statements affirming that there are no food
shortages, and announcing new oil finds.

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8 USD per Barrel of Oil ?
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3. (U) Dr. Muhammed Al-Maytami, a professor of Economics at
the University of Sanaa, published an article in Al-Hayat on
March 2nd that outlined three scenarios for Yemen if the
price of oil drops to 20, 18 and 8 USD a barrel. According
to Dr. Al-Maytami's math, if oil drops below 20 USD per
barrel, Yemen would likely lose 500 million USD a year.
However, his worst case scenario has oil dropping below 8 USD
per barrel,and Yemen losing 1.2 billion USD a year. The $1.2
billion figure for loss has been repeated by al-Jazeera,
al-Thawra, al-Hayat and the Yemen Times, often without any
reference to the fact that this figure is based on an 8 USD
per barrel price.


4. (U) According to Dr. Al-Maytami, the sole strategy of the
U.S. war on Iraq was to protect oil prices and keep them
under twenty dollars a barrel. In all three price scenarios,
implementation of the ROYG's Poverty Reduction Strategy would
be delayed because much of the money planned to finance this
project was to originate from oil revenue. While most
government officials stayed away from such speculation, Under
Secretary for Planning and Development Mutahhar al-'Abbasi

SIPDIS
told Al-Hayat that Yemen's 4-5 percent growth rate could be
eliminated if the price of oil continues to fall, and added
that this loss could have a negative affect on the ability of
the ROYG to meet their poverty eradication goals.


5. (C) Comment: According to the World Bank statistics,
Yemen's budget is based on the price of oil being 21 dollars
a barrel. As this cable is written, oil is about 29 USD per
barrel. Therefore, the price can fall much farther without
significant harm to the ROYG's budget planning. End Comment.


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Price Fixing by the Ministry of Industry and Trade
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5. (C) Claiming a crisis in foodstuffs and supplies, the
Yemen Times ran a story on April 6, repeated by several
internet news outlets, stating that the Ministry of Industry
and Trade had resorted to price fixing to control food
shortages. Arab Bank Manager Mahdi Allawi told Pol/Econoff
that his business contacts were incredulous over the idea of
price fixing, and thought the ROYG was not powerful enough to
enforce such an economic agenda. He later confirmed that
there were no such price fixing plans by the ROYG.


6. (C) Post obtained a copy of trade and supply proposal and
confirms that there are no subsidies or price restrictions
discussed in the plan. However, the Ministry of Industry and
Trade has been given authority to oversee production to
ensure that there are no food shortages. An Embssy FSN
recently traveled to Al-Jowf, a rural northern governorate,
and reports that he saw no food shortages. Some businessmen
Pol/econoff have spoken with have reported that business is
indeed down because of the war, but there have been no
accounts of empty shelves and wide-spread hoarding of food by
Yemenis. Comment: While misrepresented, the new supply
proposal is most likely an effort to assure the average
citizen that the war will not drastically affect their
day-to-day lives. End comment.

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ROYG Pushes Economic Success Stories
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7. (C) In an effort to get out in front of the dire
predictions, several government officials have reinforced
positive economic news. Prime Minister Ba Jammal affirmed on
several occasions that there were no food shortages in Yemen.
Later, Minister of Oil and Minerals Rashid Salih said his
ministry would soon declare new oil discoveries in Hadhramout
and Shabwah. On April 3, he told Yemen's Sabaa news agency
that "oil sales, navigation and even investments didn't get
affected by the war." Reinforcing the message, Minister of
Trade and Industry Muhammed Uthman noted on several occasions
that food supplies were stable and even threatened to punish
those who raise prices to gain economic advantage as a result
of the war.

8.(C) Comment: Economic worries over a significant drop in
oil prices and food shortages reflect greater concerns over
long-term economic stability in Yemen. It is widely
understood that oil revenues account for approximately 35% of
GDP, although some of the articles referred to in this piece
claim that 95% of Government revenue comes from oil. Many
Yemenis Pol/Econoff has spoken to, including several FSNs,
believe part of the U.S. strategy behind the war in Iraq is
securing cheap oil. Therefore articles that emphasize drastic
price drops in oil and the subsequent harm to the Yemeni
economy, however farfetched, are likely to resonate with the
average Yemeni citizen.
HULL