Yemen’s Central Bank Tightens Grip on Foreign Transfers

Yemen’s Central Bank. (Government media)
Yemen’s Central Bank. (Government media)
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Yemen’s Central Bank Tightens Grip on Foreign Transfers

Yemen’s Central Bank. (Government media)
Yemen’s Central Bank. (Government media)

Yemen’s Central Bank, based in Aden, the interim capital, has tightened its grip on foreign money transfers, requiring all transactions to go through approved banks and exchange companies.

Banks and exchange companies must operate mainly from Aden and grant local entities permission to handle transactions. Moreover, they must deliver remittances in the received currency without converting unless the client requests otherwise.

This step aims to better regulate financial flows amidst Yemen’s challenging economic situation.

The decision strengthens the Central Bank’s control in Aden by requiring all banks and exchange companies in Houthi-held areas to get approval before conducting transactions.

It also ensures that transfers are made in the original currency, unlike what the Houthis are doing now, withholding transfers in US dollars. This comes just two days before the deadline for banks to move their main offices from Houthi-controlled Sanaa to the interim capital.

According to Yemeni financial expert Wahid Al-Fudai, the Central Bank’s decision aims to regulate international money transfers through remittance companies and tighten control over them.

Al-Fudai sees this decision as part of the bank’s efforts to regulate banks and exchange companies according to local laws, serving the public interest, and keeping up with global trends.

He explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Central Bank had previously issued instructions regarding financial networks, emphasizing the need for its oversight over external transfers.

He stressed that only qualified and licensed institutions are allowed to conduct these transfers, meeting all requirements for compliance with international standards, especially in combating money laundering and terrorism financing.

Al-Fudai highlighted the importance of this step, especially with the Iran-backed Houthi militias now labeled as a terrorist organization by the United States and Australia, which could lead to further complications requiring the Central Bank’s attention.



Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon and Beirut Outskirts, Killing Five Medics

Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Israel Pounds Southern Lebanon and Beirut Outskirts, Killing Five Medics

Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Fire and smoke erupt from a building just after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern Chiyah neighborhood on November 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Israeli forces pounded southern Lebanon and the outskirts of the capital Beirut on Friday, killing at least five medics, and ground troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters in the south.

Israel has pushed on with its intense military campaign against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, tempering hopes that efforts by a US envoy will lead to an imminent ceasefire.

US mediator Amos Hochstein said this week in Beirut that a truce was "within our grasp". He travelled on to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before returning to Washington, the news outlet Axios said.

His trip was aimed at ending more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border, which escalated when Israel ramped up its strikes in late September and sent ground troops into Lebanon on Oct. 1.

Israeli troops have fought Hezbollah in a strip of towns along the border and this week pushed deeper to the edges of Khiyam, a town some six km (four miles) from the border.

Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at Israeli troops east of Khiyam at least four times on Friday. Lebanese security sources told Reuters Israeli troops had also advanced in a string of villages to the west. They said Israel was most likely trying to isolate Khiyam before attacking the town.

Four Italian soldiers were lightly injured after two rockets exploded at a UNIFIL peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for UNIFIL said on Friday.

Italian sources said an investigation was under way. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian media that Hezbollah might be responsible for the attack.

Israeli strikes on two other villages in southern Lebanon killed five medics from a rescue force affiliated with Hezbollah, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The more than 3,500 people killed by Israeli strikes over the last year include more than 200 medics, the health ministry said.

EVACUATION WARNINGS AND STRIKES

Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from Israel's north because of rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which began firing across the border in support of Hamas at the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israel also mounted more strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a once densely populated stronghold of Hezbollah.

Abeer Darwich, a resident of a building that was hit in Beirut southern suburbs on Friday, had to leave her apartment immediately after an evacuation warning from Israel's military.

She stood watching while an Israeli strike pounded the high rise building into dust.

"Do you know that most of the apartments' owners took credit to buy those houses? Life savings are gone, memories and safety ... which Israel decided to steal from us," Darwich said .

Evacuation orders were issued on X for several buildings in the area on Friday. Reuters footage showed one of the strikes appearing to pierce the center of a multi-storey building, which toppled in a cloud of smoke.