SANA'A, May 14 (Saba)-Yemen's total external debt edged up to US$ 5.9 billion at the end of January, up 3.2 per cent year-on-year (y/y) from the same month of 2009, the Central Bank of Yemen has said.

So-called "Paris Club" countries made up just over 29 per cent of outstanding obligations, with the bulk of this debt (US$1.2 billion) owed to Russia.

At the end of January, debt owed to non-Paris Club countries like neighbouring Saudi Arabia (US$375.6 million), Kuwait (US$136.9 million) and China (US$272.6 million) totalled US$846.9 million.

Outstanding obligations owed to multinational organizations accounted for 53 per cent of Yemen's external debt, or US$3.2 billion.

Debt owed to the World Bank's International Development Association grew 7.3 per cent y/y to US$2.2 billion, and debt owed to the International Fund for Agricultural Development was up 11.9 per cent y/y to US$129 million.

Given the immense challenges facing Yemen's economy, and limited opportunities to curtail rapidly declining oil output, it is expected the country's external obligations will grow strongly in the near term, in the absence of debt forgiveness.

Nonetheless, given the large portion of this debt consisting of highly concessional loan terms, the country's obligations should remain manageable.
Saba