Yemen money exchange offices ‘partially’ resume operations in Aden

The Foreign Exchange Dealers Association in Aden Governorate, Yemen, yesterday announced that exchange operations will be “partially resumed”, three days after suspending them as a result of the significant deterioration of the Yemeni riyal against foreign currencies.

In a statement the body said the decision to resume the exchange operations comes in response to the humanitarian need to disburse remittances, and after it had received assurances the Central Bank would address the deterioration of the Yemeni riyal’s value.

The association called on all money exchange institutions and firms to resume exchange activities from 8am until 2pm, stressing that the sale and purchase of foreign currencies remains “prohibited”.

On Thursday, the group issued a circular calling on local money transfer networks, owners of exchange firms and all institutions, facilities and networks of the banking sector in Aden to suspend their exchange activities starting immediately following the accelerated collapse of the local currency against foreign currencies. The price of one US dollar reached 880 Yemeni riyals.

Last Tuesday, the United Nations World Food Program in Yemen warned the riyal had lost 250 per cent of its value since the start of the war in 2015, which has led to an increase in food prices by 140 per cent.

READ: Yemen shuts exchange firms in Aden as currency collapses