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Saudis Give In to Houthi Pressure, Force CBY-Aden to Back Down
Threatened with new attacks, Saudi Arabia has forced the Yemeni government to abandon efforts to cut off the Houthi group () from the international banking system. Financial sanctions enacted by the government-aligned Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) were perhaps the government’s last card in its efforts to negotiate economic relief or … Read more
The Economy
Yemen's already fractured financial system faces a dangerous escalation as its rival central banks engage in a high-stakes power struggle, threatening a full-blown currency war. On March 31, the Houthi-controlled Central Bank in Sana'a (CBY-Sana'a) made a controversial decision to introduce a new coin to replace deteriorating 100 rial banknotes. … Read more
The Economy
The re-designation of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group (SDGT) by the Biden administration, which took effect on February 16, has sparked a complex debate. The move follows a series of Houthi missile attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait. The designation allows the US Treasury to impose … Read more
Challenges to Yemen’s Public Revenues
Since April 2022, the war in Yemen has mutated from a high-casualty conflict to a protracted stalemate with relatively stable frontlines. The contest is now over the economy, as the Houthi group () leverages negotiations and its military power to put fiscal pressure on the internationally recognized government. The current phase has been marked by … Read more
Two Birds With One Stone: Using Aid Transfers to Support Stable Commodity Prices in Yemen
During the conflict in Yemen, the government-run Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden), and other government-aligned economic stakeholders have argued for a policy that would rationalize humanitarian and broader aid transfers to support the provision of foreign exchange (FX) to critical commodity importers. This could benefit the economy at … Read more