To confront damaged currencies… the Houthis issue a new coin

The Central Bank of the Yemeni “Ansar Allah” (Houthis) government announced today, Saturday, the issuance of a new 100 riyal coin as part of what it called confronting the problem of damaged currency.

Hashim Ismail, Governor of the Central Bank of Yemen in the Houthi government, said, “The bank’s action to mint the coin comes as one of the solutions to confront the problem of damaged currency.”

The Governor of the Central Bank indicated that circulation of the currency will begin tomorrow, Sunday, stressing that it “will not affect the exchange rates as it is a substitute for damaged ones.”

The areas under the control of the Ansar Allah group suffer from a scarcity of the Yemeni currency issued by the Central Bank in Aden, following a previous decision issued by the group to prevent the circulation of this currency.

Professor of Economics at Sana’a University, Mutahar Al-Abbasi, warned of the Central Bank in Sana’a’s intention to print new categories of money without coordination with the bank’s main center in Aden, and considered this step a strategic mistake.

He said: “Printing new money without coordination and understanding with the Central Bank of Aden deepens the political division and economic fragmentation of a unified Yemen due to many considerations.”

Al-Abbasi stressed that “addressing the scarcity of liquidity or replacing damaged ones is within the reach of the Central Bank in Sana’a, which is to issue a circular lifting the ban on the use of the new currency issued by the Central Bank in Aden, especially the 100 and 200 riyal denominations, to address the problem of damaged ones in these denominations, or denominations.” The broad-print denominations of 500 and 1000 riyals are an urgent priority.”

The Central Bank of the internationally recognized Yemeni government in Aden warned on Thursday against “dealing with the plans and intentions of the bank branch in Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthi, to issue counterfeit currency,” threatening the institutions that would accept it with strict measures, considering this an illegal measure. (RT)