Photo: Yemeni president Abdurabo Mansor Hadi

The Yemeni cabinet on Monday stressed that 2016 will be the year of empowerment in liberated areas and vowed to liberate the rest of the country from the rebel Houthi militia and forces loyal to now-ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

During a meeting to discuss legal measures to approve the budget, the cabinet examined the use of local financial resources to overcome the deficit and considered ways of getting direct foreign aid for the budget.

The cabinet said it seeks to boost the economy in liberated Yemeni governorates.

The cabinet took a number of measures to maintain the performance of the Yemeni central bank, carry out the set fiscal and monetary policies and find suitable alternatives in order to overcome the current issues and achieve the budget.

The cabinet noted that it will introduce facilities to convert the foreign currency surplus of the central bank and commercial and Islamic banks into cash to honour its commitments to the world.