To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if the Government will offer credit guarantees to commercial shipping agents to ensure future food supplies to Yemen.
Answered on
24 January 2017
The Government is aware of the issue regarding Yemeni importers’ access to finance for food imports and continues to lobby all parties to the conflict to facilitate commercial access.
The Department for International Development (DfID) is providing £1.4 million for the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to speed up the clearance process for ships, improve commercial confidence and reduce the price of basic goods. DfID officials are engaging with a range of partners to understand the issues for importer access to finance and explore potential solutions.
UK Export Finance has not been approached to provide credit guarantees for exports to Yemen, and is currently off cover due to the extremely poor risk outlook.