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Houthi-Linked Financial Entities Trigger Cash Crisis

A Yemeni worker counting money in a currency exchange store in Sanaa (EPA)
A Yemeni worker counting money in a currency exchange store in Sanaa (EPA)
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Houthi-Linked Financial Entities Trigger Cash Crisis

A Yemeni worker counting money in a currency exchange store in Sanaa (EPA)
A Yemeni worker counting money in a currency exchange store in Sanaa (EPA)

Mahmoud Naji, a Sanaa-based Yemeni citizen, was told by a currency exchange employee that he had to collect a financial transfer from his brother in Yemeni riyals due to a lack of foreign currency liquidity.

He did not fully comprehend what had happened until he randomly checked four different stores. Naji then realized that there was an unannounced liquidity crisis.

After waiting for a week, Naji told Asharq Al-Awsat that he had to rely on a friend's intervention with a currency exchange company to receive the transfer.

The problem is not restricted to the shortage of liquid hard currency, but it also applies to the local currency, with all denominations missing except for 1,000 Yemeni riyals.

Also, Naji said he has not been given a reason for why currency exchange companies lowered the rate of the US dollar from 600 Yemeni riyals per dollar to around 500 riyals. He noted that exchange stores purchase the dollar at this extremely low rate but refuse to sell at the same price.

Economic sources in Sanaa confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the so-called “economic committee,” which is the parallel entity established by the Houthis for all financial and banking institutions and led by Hassan Al-Saadi, is contributing to the manipulation of the US dollar exchange rate.

According to sources, the real price of one US dollar exceeds 1200 Yemeni riyals, but the Houthi committee, which controls the exchange sector and holds traders’ money at the central bank branch, is imposing a different price.

The war ignited by the Houthis has led to the collapse of Yemen's economy and the shutdown of most companies. As a result, most Yemeni families rely on remittances from Yemeni expats, particularly the three million who work in Saudi Arabia.

Many families have been impacted by the manipulation of exchange companies with the dollar rate, in collusion with the Houthis.

Sources believe the goal is to withdraw as much hard currency as possible from the population ahead of a potential peace stage, where experts expect the dollar price to double in Houthi-run areas, where the current price is believed to be made artificially low.

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Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
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Kurdistan Salary Crisis Clouds Eid Celebrations in Baghdad

Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)
Leader of the Hikma Movement Ammar al-Hakim delivers his Eid speech to supporters in Baghdad (Hikma Media)

The festivity of Eid al-Adha in Baghdad was overshadowed by growing political tensions, particularly over the unresolved salary crisis in the Kurdistan Region.

While Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani opted for a neutral gesture - issuing a general holiday greeting and performing Eid prayers without comment - other political leaders used the occasion to speak pointedly about the nation’s deepening challenges.

Al-Sudani attended Eid prayers at Al-Rasoul Mosque in the capital, choosing to remain silent on political matters. However, influential Shiite cleric and head of the Hikma Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali both delivered speeches that touched on the country’s fraught political and economic landscape.

Al-Hakim warned against the use of political money in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11, 2025.

Calling the vote “historic,” he emphasized the need for electoral integrity and urged political blocs to adopt a national code of conduct barring the use of illicit funds. “There is talk of a market where candidates and voters are being bought. This is corruption and betrayal of the people,” he said.

He also addressed Iraq’s perennial electricity crisis, calling for a “strategic state of emergency” to resolve the issue once and for all. “Despite changing governments and large budgets, the same problems repeat themselves,” he noted.

Al-Hakim stressed the need for governments to define clear priorities, including agriculture, water, and clean energy, and said Iraqis “deserve a dignified life that begins with stable electricity and ends with technological advancement.”

Khazali, meanwhile, focused his remarks on the Kurdistan Region salary crisis, criticizing accusations from Kurdish media that he was responsible for the federal government’s suspension of public sector salaries in the region. “It’s simply not true,” he said. “Unfortunately, salaries remain unpaid to this day.”

He stressed that despite Iraq’s wealth, the country continues to suffer from poverty and unemployment, and argued that the roots of these issues lie in the legacy of the former Ba’ath regime.

Khazali also pointed out that Kurdistan experiences higher poverty rates than the rest of Iraq, and that many Iraqi refugees abroad are from the region.

Turning to the electricity crisis, he warned this summer could be the most difficult in years, as outages are expected to worsen. “All past governments focused on increasing output but ignored the need to instill a culture of energy conservation,” he said, warning that some groups may seek to exploit the crisis to sow internal unrest.