Yemen government to pay civil servants in al-Hodeidah

The UN on Friday (December 28th) welcomed a decision by Yemen's government to pay the salaries of civil servants in the port city of al-Hodeidah, which is held by the Iran-backed Houthis (Ansarallah), starting this month, AFP reported.

For more than two years, the government has been unable to pay salaries, and the riyal has dropped sharply against the dollar.

President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi's decision "is an important step towards improving the economic situation, and alleviating the humanitarian suffering of the Yemeni people", said the office of the UN special envoy to Yemen.

UN envoy Martin Griffiths "hopes there will be more steps in this direction", it said in a social media post.

On Thursday, local media reported that Hadi had instructed the government to urgently work on paying the salaries of all civil servants in al-Hodeidah province, starting from December.

Earlier this month, deputy Central Bank chief Shokeib Hobeishy said the Bank was expecting a $3 billion cash injection from Gulf allies, which followed a $2.2 billion infusion by Saudi Arabia to stem a slide in the Yemeni riyal.

More than one million civil servants lost their jobs in 2016, when Hadi moved the Central Bank from Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, to Aden, which is controlled by the government.

A ceasefire went into effect in al-Hodeidah on December 18th, but has remained shaky, with the warring sides accusing each other of violations.

Gunfire was heard overnight Thursday in the south of the Red Sea city.

"We heard the sounds of jets in the early hours of the morning for a brief 15 minutes, but there has been complete calm since then," an AFP correspondent said, adding that the situation on the ground remains "tense".

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