Economic Houthi Committee insists on the continuation of the decision to prevent the new edition of the currency
English - Thursday 09 January 2020 الساعة 08:20 am
aden,newsyemen
Sources close to the Houthi militias, the Iranian arm in Yemen, revealed differences between militia leaders on the one hand and some members of the Political Council and the government of Ibn Habtoor, who are controlled by the militias, against the background of the issue of preventing the new edition of the national currency from circulating.
The sources said: A meeting that included the political council, the government of Ibn Habtoor, and members of the Houthi Economic Committee, witnessed disputes and exchanges of accusations, as a number of members of the political council and also the president and members of the government confirmed their lack of knowledge of the decision to prevent the circulation of the new edition of the currency, and that this decision was reflected in significant negative impacts on the economic situation in the militia control areas.
The objections of the political and government members included noting that the decision was improvised and contributed to an economic recession and caused an increase in the suffering of people, especially those employees who receive their salaries by the legitimate government, as well as the state of confusion, fear and panic among the commercial sector and money changers, and everyone felt that the decision was aimed at stealing their savings and their money.
According to the sources, the members of the Houthi Economic Committee, despite acknowledging that the decision had negative repercussions on the economic situation in general, but they tried to justify it as the implementation of the directives of the militia leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi on the one hand, and they tried to support this by allegations of low exchange rates in their areas of control and the commitment of the people to the decision, but members of government of Ibn Habtoor replied to them that the exchange rates of foreign currencies in their areas of control are fictitious and are not linked to a special economic cycle in light of the recession that hit the markets, and fears of the effects of the decision, as well as the compulsion of many traders, money changers and owners of capital Loyal to the replacement of the national currency in hard currency, which is reflected negatively on the value of the national currency and symbolic.
The sources pointed out that critics of the decision indicated that it was possible to take this decision from the first day to start circulating the new edition of the national currency and prevent its entry into the militia’s control areas. As for that, after two years have passed, its adverse and negative results are what appears in reality.
The sources emphasized that, despite the consensus reached by the meeting that the decision was improvised and had negative effects on the people, the members of the Houthi Economic Committee insisted on continuing to implement it, because it was the decision of their master, the militia leader, as they said and it cannot be reversed.
