The Central Bank of Yemen forbids the combination of money exchange and fuel trading
English - Thursday 24 June 2021 الساعة 09:39 am
Aden, NewsYemen, special:
A source in the Central Bank of Yemen - Aden, revealed that the bank has taken new policies to limit the dominance and influence of exchange companies on the banking market, and evading control through soft policies that will be implemented in the coming days.
The source told NewsYemen that among the new measures that the Central Bank of Aden will take, is the blacklisting of exchange companies that trade in oil derivatives.
He added that the Central Bank considered the gathering of money exchange and fuel trading activities simultaneously as manipulation, currency smuggling and money laundering.
Many exchange companies have been active in the fuel trade, since the state abandoned in 2018 in the south and the Houthi militia in 2015, the import and marketing of oil derivatives, and their delivery to the private sector.
The CBY-Aden continues to face challenges in imposing its control over banks and exchange firms in both government and Houthi-controlled areas.
The source confirmed that the World Bank has supplied the Central Bank of Yemen, Aden, with foreign experts from Canada, Sweden and Germany, who are currently in the temporary capital, Aden, who are working on drawing soft monetary policies to control the exchange companies sector.
The Central Bank of Aden is aware that the exchange companies are the “house of disease” by manipulating exchange rates, hiding liquidity from local and foreign cash in their coffers, smuggling and laundering money, and collecting dollars from the liberated areas to finance fuel and commodity traders in Houthi militia-controlled areas.
A banking source had confirmed to NewsYemen earlier that the Islah party and the Houthi militia were laundering the huge money they gained from the war in companies and money exchange shops they created over the past years.
Exchange shops and companies have swelled in recent years, in light of the war economy, and their number is estimated at more than 1,700 offices and companies, including 1,100 without licenses, most of which have more than five branches, according to sources in the Central Bank of Yemen.
Exchange shops and companies have come to dominate the economy and control the exchange rate, in light of the weakness of the Central Bank of Yemen - whose headquarters and operations were moved to Aden in September 2016, leaving most of its capabilities behind in Sana’a - which confirms that the hidden economy is dominant in the country and in control in light Weakness and fragility of government institutions.
The World Bank had revealed in a previous report, that the Central Bank of Yemen - Aden, could not supervise the exchange market sector and inspect in real time on accounting systems, due to the lack of implementation of networking.
He stressed that the exchange companies did not comply with the instructions of the Central Bank, for several times, despite warning him to take legal measures, including canceling the license.
