Yemen .. Why did banknotes become a burden on people's lives?

Mohammed Abdul-Malik - Al-Jazeera Net

"We live in the inferno of war, and hardly manage our lives, we do not receive even our salaries, and therefore we did not lack the problem of duplication of dealing with the new banknotes of the legitimate government and the old papers that the Houthis adhere to because we do not have the money at all."

Thus, the Yemeni teacher, Muhammad Saadan, answered a question to Al-Jazeera Net about the problems he faces when dealing with double cards.

The Central Bank of the Houthis in Sana'a considers the decision to prohibit the circulation of new banknotes issued by the government an important step to preserve the value of the Yemeni riyal, while the Central Bank returns to Aden the reasons for printing the new banknotes due to its attempt to end the problem of exacerbating the country's monetary crisis and paying salaries.

Negative reflections
The problem of duplication of dealing in banknotes did not stop at the difficulty of dealing with them in some governorates administered by the government, and the difficulty of citizens dealing with them in the areas of Houthi control, but the economic burdens of this crisis reflected negatively on the issue of the purchasing power of citizens in most governorates, who became obliged to buy the same commodity At varying rates, depending on the type of currency they own.

Hisham Abdul Majeed (residing in Sanaa) said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that Houthis are forcing merchants to put up signs in stores asking customers not to deal with new papers, and that stores do not deal with them, but some merchants - especially owners of small stores or rugs and khat sellers ( A tree that the Yemenis chew as a daily habit) - they still deal unofficially with it, and they take advantage of that to sell goods at higher prices if the payment is in old papers, with a difference of up to two thousand riyals per commodity.

The President of the Yemeni Society for Consumer Protection in Sanaa Fadl Mansour confirms that the cash circulation of the old and new currency has reached its effects in all Yemeni cities, as preventing the circulation of new securities after being used in buying and selling for more than two years has caused a lot of money in the commercial sector, banks and money changers from This currency, and among consumers in most cities.

Fadl Mansour explains that the use of the old currency, which has become limited in circulation as a result of its long use period, and the damage of many of them, has greatly affected the purchasing power of hard currencies, and the provision of needs to cover the import process in the various governorates.

As a result, many traders resorted to providing the dollar currency for importing from the southern and eastern governorates, which led to higher foreign exchange rates in those governorates, thus creating two markets for local currencies, and a variation in the dollar prices and other currencies between the provinces, which resulted in higher commodity prices Food and others, according to Mansour.

The President of the Consumer Protection Association demanded that the economy be neutralized, because in the end the aggrieved party was the consumer who said that he was actually affected by this rise, and the price ratios exceeded more than 15% in some commodities, which greatly affected the capabilities of the already poor consumers.

A serious crisis
Yemeni economic researcher Muhammad Rajeh reports that Yemen currently lives the most serious economic crisis in the conflict that has been going on for nearly five years, as it has become clear that there is direct targeting of the currency, which is the last sovereign symbol in Yemen, as Yemeni unity is no longer embodied only in its national currency, which was practical They are traded at the same value everywhere within the country.

According to Muhammad Rajeh, the current conflict over the circulation of banknotes has caused severe damage at all levels, as the Yemenis have a damaged old currency in Sana'a and the Houthi-controlled areas are not usable, and there is another currency in Aden where the Yemeni government is located.

It is more likely that this conflict leads to an increase in commodity prices by more than 200%, and a decrease in the value of the Yemeni currency as a result of disposal by exchanging it in foreign currencies, especially the Saudi riyal, in addition to the high cost of cash transfers.

According to Rajeh, this ongoing conflict is losing a large part of the money in favor of the black market and speculators in the currency, as well as the smuggling movement between the regions of the two parties, all of which leads to serious repercussions on the living conditions of citizens, through the deterioration of the services provided, the high prices of food commodities, and the loss of currency Their value and fragmentation are more between the two parties, and the national economy is suffering huge losses.

The Houthi group had anticipated a step that was stopped by dealing in the new papers with raids of banks, companies and shops, and seized millions of riyals from them, until people were forced to stop trading them, and some were quick to replace them with old money or "e-riyal " at the points identified by the Houthi group.

Economic estimates indicate that the Yemeni riyal has lost since the beginning of the war five years ago 150% of its value, and the severe liquidity crisis has led to high inflation to about 40%, in addition to the high cost of the food basket 60%.