SANA’A —  Only two percent of the Yemeni population controls 80 percent of Yemen’s wealth, while the remaining 98 percent forms the middle and lower class, according to Ahmed Shammakh, a Yemeni economist.

Shammakh pointed out that about 40 to 50 percent of Yemenis suffer from severe poverty. 85 percent of the poor live in rural areas, while 15 percent live in urban areas.

Yemen experienced losses $22 billion due to the popular uprising and military clashes between parties of last year’s conflict, according to a research that will be published soon under the supervision of Shammakh.

The research pointed out that Yemen lacks future economic development plans and programs to enhance the country due to the continued siphoning of the country’s wealth by certain influential families.

The wealth of these influential families can’t be counted precisely because there are no official statistics issued by either local authorities or regional UN organizations.

Shammakh urged the Yemeni authorities to invest the money given by donors, particularly at a time when Yemen is preparing for the Friends of Yemen Conference, which will be held at the end of May, and which will be held in July in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Yemen invested only 15 percent out of the $6 billion given by the Donors’ Conference, which was held first in London and then in Riyadh,” Shammakh said.

Saudi Arabia will continue to give free shipments of refined oil to Yemen over the course of this month and next, according to a number of Yemeni traders last Monday.

The traders expected that Saudi Arabia will give 200 tons of diesel to Yemen, estimated at $200 million, during May and June of 2012.

“The ongoing sabotage against oil pipelines has decreased Yemen’s oil exports. The oil shipments given by Saudi Arabia will help us improve the bad economic situation in Yemen,” said Mohammed Al-Mohalla, the director of the Chamber of Commerce.