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.



Houthis Believed to Be Holding Six Crew from Greek Ship Sunk in Red Sea

A screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Houthis military media center on 08 July 2025 shows Houthi fighters aboard the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, the Magic Seas, in the Red Sea off the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, 06 July 2025. EPA/HOUTHIS MILITARY MEDIA CENTER / HANDOUT
A screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Houthis military media center on 08 July 2025 shows Houthi fighters aboard the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, the Magic Seas, in the Red Sea off the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, 06 July 2025. EPA/HOUTHIS MILITARY MEDIA CENTER / HANDOUT
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Houthis Believed to Be Holding Six Crew from Greek Ship Sunk in Red Sea

A screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Houthis military media center on 08 July 2025 shows Houthi fighters aboard the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, the Magic Seas, in the Red Sea off the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, 06 July 2025. EPA/HOUTHIS MILITARY MEDIA CENTER / HANDOUT
A screen grab taken from a handout video released by the Houthis military media center on 08 July 2025 shows Houthi fighters aboard the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, the Magic Seas, in the Red Sea off the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, 06 July 2025. EPA/HOUTHIS MILITARY MEDIA CENTER / HANDOUT

Yemen’s Houthi forces are believed to be holding six of the 22 crew of a Greek ship that the militia attacked and sank in the Red Sea earlier this week, maritime security sources said on Thursday.

The Houthis had said on Wednesday they had rescued a number of the ship's crew, without providing further details, Reuters reported.

Maritime security sources said that rescuers pulled three more crew members and a security guard alive from the Red Sea on Thursday, a day after the Houthi militants sank the Greek ship Eternity C and said they were holding some of the crew still missing.

This brings the total number of those rescued so far to 10, including eight Filipino crew members, one Indian and one Greek security guard. The people found on Thursday had spent more than 48 hours in the water. Another 11 people are still missing.

"This fills us with more courage to continue to search for those missing, as the Greek vessel operator requested, and shows that our search plan was correct," said Nikos Georgopoulos, an official at the Greece-based maritime risk firm Diaplous.

Eternity C is the second Greek bulk carrier sunk this week by the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen. The attacks, which Houthis say are an act of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, have ended months of calm in the area.

The United States' Mission in Yemen has accused the Houthis of kidnapping crew members and has called for their immediate release.

On Wednesday, the Houthis' military spokesperson said in a televised address that the Yemeni navy had "responded to rescue a number of the ship's crew, provide them with medical care, and transport them to a safe location".

The Eternity C sank on Wednesday days after Houthis hit and sunk the Magic Seas, reviving a campaign launched in November 2023 that has seen more than 100 ships attacked.

Both of the vessels hit this week flew Liberian flags and were operated by Greek companies. All crew from the Magic Seas were rescued before it went down.

Eternity C was first hit on Monday with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades fired from speed boats. Four people are presumed dead, with maritime security sources saying they were killed in the attacks. If confirmed, the deaths would be the first fatalities in the area since June 2024.

Following a second attack on Tuesday morning, the crew were forced to jump into the water. Rescuers have been searching for them since Wednesday morning.

The vessel's operator, Cosmoship Management, has not responded to Reuters' requests for comment.