Yemeni president fires PM over poor economic performance

Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has fired his prime minister, blaming him for the economic crisis in the war-torn country, according to a statement.

Hadi’s office said on Monday Ahmed bin Dagher was guilty of poor economic performance and failure to avert a collapse of the currency.

“This [the dismissal] was a result of negligence by the government in the recent period with respect to the economy and to administrative services,” the statement said.

It named Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed as the new prime minister. He was previously minister of public works and roads, which along with the government, operates largely from Saudi Arabia.

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition – which today only includes Saudi and the United Arab Emirates – has embarked on a bombing campaign in Yemen aimed at dislodging Houthi rebels, as well as restoring to power Hadi’s exiled internationally recognised government.

The Yemeni currency, the riyal, has lost more than half its value against the dollar since the start of the war. 

United Nations special envoy Martin Griffiths said this month that the UN was discussing an emergency plan to stem the fall and restore economic confidence.

Yemen is one of the poorest Arab nations and as a result of the ongoing war, about 22 million people require aid, while 8.4 million are on the brink of starvation.

The northern half of the country, including the capital Sanaa, is largely controlled by Houths, while Hadi contests much of the south with separatist groups.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people and has displaced more than two million people.

According to the UN, the conflict in Yemen has produced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.