Weakening Yemeni currency prompts concerns

The continued depreciation of Yemeni riyal in the country's government-controlled provinces has triggered public concerns, with many residents fearing a notable surge in the prices of daily necessities.

Banking sources in Yemen's government-controlled provinces, including Aden, Taiz, and Marib, reported that the exchange rate has exceeded 2,000 Yemeni riyals per U.S. dollar, the lowest level since the civil war began in late 2014, when one U.S. dollar was equivalent to 215 riyals.

Meanwhile, lots of local currency exchange agencies have suspended the exchange of Yemeni riyal with foreign currencies, due to significant exchange rate fluctuations. Analysts pointed out that in addition to causing soaring prices for goods, the continued decline may lead to an impending economic crisis.

"The devaluation will lead to a rise in unemployment rates and cause overall economic instability. Many economic participants will face collapse, and numerous households will face complete financial ruin. It's very challenging to find a solution to this situation in the near future," explained Tariq Al-Saffa, a political and economic analyst.

The depreciation also further weakened the purchasing power of citizens, exacerbating their hardships.

"The rapid plummet of the currency has caused catastrophic negative impacts on people's life. They can't afford the food they need every day. It also affects various sectors like healthcare, education, and more. I believe this is a truly comprehensive disaster in every sense," said Raed Al-Mehrabi, local resident.

To stabilize the national currency, Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak held an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting, attended by Central Bank Governor Ahmed Ghaleb and Finance Minister Salem bin Buraik, focused on implementing fiscal and monetary reforms to stabilize the national currency and increase public revenue, according to the state-run Saba news agency.

Following the meeting, the central bank governor announced a public auction to sell 50 million U.S. dollars as part of immediate interventions. He attributed the pressure on the riyal to the halt of key national resources, reduced aid, and declining state revenue.

Weakening Yemeni currency prompts concerns

Weakening Yemeni currency prompts concerns

Weakening Yemeni currency prompts concerns

China has evolved as a partner of the World Bank in assisting low and middle-income countries by sharing its development experience with them, World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg said.

The managing director recently gave a lecture at Peking University in Beijing, where he discussed the World Bank's role in mitigating challenges such as post-pandemic recovery, climate change, supply chain disruption and geopolitical tensions.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), van Trotsenburg acknowledged China's contribution to the World Bank's development.

"China has also evolved as a partner. In a sense, it is not only the knowledge sharing within China of its experiences, but also the knowledge sharing outside of China, particularly also the poorer countries, what they could learn from the Chinese experience. And so, what I would argue is that makes for an exciting program, an evolving nature and a continued challenge, because as long as we challenge each other, then you find again new programs in which you could jointly work together. So, this is in my mind, a very important feature, a successful feature, and I hope that will continue that road," he said.

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.

China evolves as partner of World Bank in assisting developing countries: senior official