President Saleh: fuel price hikes a matter of sovereignty

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Saba) – Whether the World Bank and the IMF understood our concerns or not, the increase of the oil prices is a matter of sovereignty, said President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In an interview with the Washington-based al-Hurra TV Friday, President Saleh said the World Bank and the IMF are just “supporters” who offer advices to Yemen in the realm of development while the “decision is eventually ours.” “Every country has its own privacies. We do favor economic reforms but our conditions are already so bad to tolerate any more increases of prices,” he said referring to the “high prices of wheat in the international markets” and the wave of “drought that hits the country” this year. “When the right time comes, we will take our own decision (on prices increase).”Prime Minister Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, in a recent TV interview, has said the increase of oil prices was “a matter of time.” Ba-Jammal has been saying the increase of prices was an urgent move to discourage smuggling of these products and save substantial cash for the state budget. AA/KMSABA