Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (August 2018)

INTRODUCTION

The Yemen Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI) was launched by REACH in collaboration with the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster and Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG) to support humanitarian actors with the objective of harmonizing price monitoring among all cash actors in Yemen. The JMMI incorporates information on market systems including price levels and supply chains. The basket of goods to be assessed comprises eight non-food items (NFIs), including fuel, water and hygiene products, reflecting the programmatic areas of the WASH Cluster.

METHODOLOGY

Data collection for the sixth round of the JMMI took place between the 26 August – 1 September 2018. Enumerators from 10 partner organisations collected data through Key Informant (KI) interviews in 48 districts, and across 14 governorates. The sample of vendors was selected from markets of various sizes in both urban and rural areas. The collected data has been analysed in comparison with the price quotations recorded during the Multi-Agency Joint Cash Study in September 2017, previous Weekly Price Monitoring Initiative which began during the economic blockade of Yemen in November 2017, and previous JMMI. Findings of this analysis are presented in the form of both this factsheet and a supplementary dataset, published on a monthly basis.

KEY FINDINGS

PRICE MONITORING OVERVIEW

• Between July and August, it is estimated that the Yemeni Riyal (YER) depreciated by 23.7% against the US Dollar (USD), with an exchange rate in the parallel market that increased from 485 YER per 1 USD to 600 YER.

• Median price levels for all commodities, with the exception of water trucking, increased between July and August. Petrol vendor KIs reported median price increased by 10.67%, while diesel prices increased by 6.95%.

SUPPLY OVERVIEW

• The depreciation of the YER has led to an increase in the proportion of vendor KIs citing challenges of price inflation.

• In Amanat Al Asimah, petrol and fuel vendor KIs stated that fuel was only available on the parallel market, while restocking times for diesel increased by more than a week in Amanat Al Asimah and Sana’a governorates.

• At the time of data collection, the port of Al Hudaydah remains the primary supply point for vendor KIs in the north west of the country, while fuel supply routes from Marib to the north west have not reopened.

• In Aden, both petrol and diesel vendor KIs stated that fuel was available, in contrast to July when fuel was only available on the parallel market.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-joint-market-monitoring-initiative-august-2018