Yemen facing economic tests amid falling output [Archives:2005/828/Front Page]

By Yemen Times News Services
WASHINGTON, 26 Mar. ) Yemen's economy could survive without policy adjustments in the short term but falling oil production means the government would have to make economic corrections further down the road, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.

“The long-term fiscal and external position are clearly unsustainable,” the fund said in an annual review of Yemen's economy.

Already, there are signs that the economy has shifted into lower gear amid aging large oil fields and no new significant oil explorations.

The IMF said gross domestic product growth was expected to have fallen to 2.7 per cent in 2004, versus 3.1 per cent in 2003. Non-oil GDP growth should have reached 4.1 percent last year, due to stronger activity in the construction, transportation and trade sectors, it said.
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