Central Bank of Aden: «60 days to move all bank headquarters»

On Tuesday, the governor of the Aden-based Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) announced the decision to issue Resolution No.17 of 2024, calling on commercial banks, Islamic banks, and local and foreign microfinance banks to move their main headquarters from Sanaa to Aden within a period of 60 days.

The decision of Aden’s CBY to issue the resolution came 72 hours after the Houthi-controlled Central Bank announced the issuance of a new coin.

According to the resolution, issued by the Governor of the CBY of Aden, Ahmed Ghalib, “any bank that violates the decision to transfer its headquarters to Aden during the period referred to will have all legal measures taken against it in accordance with the provisions of the effective Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law".

On Saturday, the CBY of Sanaa announced the issuance of a new 100 Yemeni riyal coin, a step the governor declared was to “solve the problem of damaged currencies” which has caused a financial crisis in Houthi-controlled areas.

The Aden CBY strongly warned against dealing with the new currency, which it described as “counterfeit.”

According to banking sources who spoke to South24 Center, Aden’s CBY is seeking to implement new procedures to help it manage the cash supply of foreign currency in local banks and monitor financial movement, amid a decline in foreign currency reserves in its accounts abroad.

The bank has so far only received $750 million of the $3 billion dollar Saudi-UAE grant announced on April 7, 2022, according to the same sources.

For years, the Houthis prohibited the circulation of new Yemeni riyal banknotes printed by the internationally recognized government without a foreign exchange cover, causing a nationwide monetary divide.