Yemen Monitor/Newsroom:
The Yemeni Rial has recorded an unprecedented deterioration in its value against foreign currencies. On Thursday evening, the exchange rate of the US Dollar exceeded 2750 Rials, marking the largest decline since the beginning of the economic crisis. This decline portends further pressure on citizens’ livelihoods and a rise in the prices of basic goods and services.
According to banking sources, the exchange rate for the dollar reached 2727 Rials for buying and 2753 Rials for selling. Meanwhile, the Saudi Riyal reached 715 Rials for buying and 720 Rials for selling, reflecting the fragility of the monetary market and the absence of any effective interventions from the Central Bank so far.
This deterioration comes just hours after an emergency meeting of the Economic and Humanitarian Crisis Management Committee, chaired by the head of the Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, to discuss the repercussions of the accelerating collapse of the local currency.
The meeting included senior economic officials, among them Prime Minister Salem bin Breik, the Governor of the Central Bank, and the Ministers of Finance, Oil, and Foreign Affairs, as well as the head of the economic team.
According to the official Yemeni News Agency, the meeting discussed the deteriorating financial and monetary indicators, the aggravation of service crises, especially in the electricity and household gas sectors, in addition to the repercussions of Houthi attacks on oil installations and cargo ships, which have contributed to stifling the state’s sovereign resources.
The meeting also reviewed government performance reports on the course of economic reforms and the level of implementation of the Crisis Management Committee’s decisions. Emphasis was placed on the need to provide urgent financial alternatives to ensure the continued disbursement of employee salaries, secure the flow of essential goods, and activate market oversight tools to limit the repercussions of accelerating inflation.
This collapse comes at a critical time, as economic reports warn that the dollar exceeding the 3000 Rial barrier may become a matter of time in the absence of serious interventions, the shrinking of Central Bank reserves, and declining confidence in the banking market.
Observers are urging the government to act quickly to activate monetary policy tools, curb currency speculation, and intensify international support to avoid the exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis that now threatens millions.
