[07/05/2024 05:51]

ADEN - SABA
Yemen's central bank has disclosed a series of arbitrary and ruinous measures practiced the Houthi militia controlling the capital Sana'a is practicing against the country's banking sector, which compelled the legitimate central bank in Aden to take a package of protective measures for the banking system and maintain monetary stability, the last of which was obliging the operation centers of commercial and Islamic banks to relocate to the temporary capital, Aden.

The central bank said that the Houthi coupist militia has - since the Central Bank moved from Sana'a to Aden in mid-2016 - sought to ruin the banking and financial sector and wreak havoc to it, exploiting the stay of the main banking centers Sana'a, which is under Houthi forceful control.

The central bank enumerated several Houthi approaches and schemes to seize the capabilities of banks and financial institutions, harness them to serve the militia's absurd activities and wars, and harm the overall economic and financial situation of the country.

According to the central bank, the Houthi practices include complicating the operation setting of banks and financial institutions present in various parts of Yemen, and restricting banking activities, by seeking to divide the economy and prevent the circulation of new editions of the legal denominations of the national currency, and obstructing the movement of cash and financial transactions between the various regions within the country.

The bank said in a reference report that, from December 2019 onwards, the Houthi militia banned the circulation of new editions of the national currency, and carried out repeated raids to plunder and confiscate the legal banknotes from the headquarters of banks, financial institutions and commercial companies in the city of Sana'a and areas under the militia's control.

It said Houthi checkpoints also confiscate these banknotes from passengers travelling between governorates, under the pretext of destroying the new edition of the currency and criminalizing its possession. However, they then they use that looted money in foreign currencies and speculate on exchange rates in the government-controlled parts of the country.

The central bank said the Houthi malpractices fall within the ruinous practices against the national economy and the opportunities for monetary and financial stability, and help in undermining confidence in the national currency, consequently causing a rise in the costs of goods and services, and causing individuals and the commercial sector to suffer huge losses in the value of their incomes and savings, in addition to harming productive, commercial and investment activities in the country.

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