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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
Bridging the Divide: Mitigating the Impacts of the CBY Schism on Yemen’s Banking Sector
The September 2016 rupture of the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) into rival branches associated with the main warring parties has severely undermined the country’s banking sector. The most fundamental issues affecting Yemeni banks are the differing currency systems that have emerged between areas controlled by the internationally recognized … Read more
Houthis Continue to Bilk Consumers With Exorbitant Fuel Prices
On July 3, the Sana’a-based Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC) increased the official price of petrol by 9 percent, from YR640 t0 YR700 per liter, in areas under the control of Houthi authorities. Since last June, Houthi-controlled cities have suffered from continuing shortages of diesel, leading to wide divergences in prices at official, commercial … Read more