Aden (South24 Center)

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The Yemeni government announced on Sunday (August 10, 2025), the commencement of operations for the National Committee for Import Regulation and Financing. The committee has begun receiving currency exchange and transfer requests from businesses and commercial institutions through banks and exchange companies, following the completion of executive procedures governing its operational framework.

The committee, established by prime ministerial decree based on the Central Bank governor's proposal, comprises nine members representing various government entities, along with representatives from the banking sector, exchange companies, and chambers of commerce.

Central Bank Governor and Committee Chairman Ahmed Ghaleb stated in remarks to the official Saba News Agency that this initiative aims to enhance transparency, ensure smooth import operations, and provide foreign currency according to specific controls designed to reduce speculative activities that have contributed to the depreciation of the Yemeni rial against foreign currencies.

Ghaleb elaborated that the mechanism requires merchants to submit applications through banks or exchange companies to obtain approval for currency exchange and transfer of imported goods' value, accompanied by all necessary documentation. He emphasized that receiving institutions bear responsibility for verifying the accuracy of submitted data before forwarding requests to the committee using approved forms.

The committee will review applications and communicate decisions to intermediary institutions, whether approval or rejection, while stressing that no goods will be permitted through customs checkpoints unless they meet all specified conditions.

The Central Bank governor underscored the critical importance of compliance by importers and the banking sector with regulatory controls to ensure the mechanism's success. He noted this step would contribute to regulating import operations, meeting market demands, reducing reliance on the black market for currency exchange, and mitigating risks facing the financial and commercial sectors amid the international terrorist designation of the Houthi group.

In a related development, the Central Bank governor had issued a decision on July 20 to relocate the headquarters of the Deposit Insurance Corporation to Aden, as part of ongoing efforts to reorganize Yemen's banking sector amid the continuing financial and banking division between government-controlled areas and territories under the control of Iran-backed Houthi militias.

The Yemeni rial in government-controlled areas has maintained relative stability at 1,617 rials for buying and 1,632 rials for selling against the U.S. dollar for approximately one week. This comes days after the U.S. dollar's surge beyond 2,900 rials in mid-July, marking the currency's most severe historical collapse.

Yemeni government officials attribute this sudden improvement in the rial's value to financial, monetary, and economic reforms, particularly the Central Bank's campaign against currency speculation that has resulted in the revocation or suspension of licenses for dozens of exchange firms and establishments.