Yemeni Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Najib Al-Awaj said on Sunday that the Yemeni economy had lost about 50 billion dollars due to the war that broke out in early 2015.

This came during his speech in a workshop in Aden, the interim capital, in the south of the country, to discuss the draft plan of priorities for reconstruction and economic recovery for 2019-2020.

The workshop was attended by Head of the EU Delegation to Yemen, Antonia Calvo, representatives of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, the Emirates Red Crescent and other donor parties, according to the Yemeni government news agency Saba.

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According to the same source, Al-Awaj added that hundreds of thousands of private sector employees had lost their jobs as a result of the production decline.

He pointed out that “the decline in production caused the citizens to lose about two-thirds of their income due to high inflation, the devaluation of the national currency, and the increase of poverty rates to about 78 per cent of the population. Also, about 60 per cent of the population is suffering from food insufficiency.”

The official explained that there is a sharp deterioration of basic services systems, especially drinking water, health, electricity, education, and other services. Also, 22 million people need humanitarian aid, including about 3 million internally displaced persons.

For nearly five years, the country has been witnessing a war between pro-government forces and Houthi militants, who have been controlling governorates, including the capital Sana’a, since September 2014.