Yemeni president relocates central bank, appoints new governor

Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has moved the headquarters of the Central Bank of Yemen from Sanaa to the southern city of Aden.

In a decree he issued Sunday night, he also appointed Finance Minister Monasser al Quaiti as head of the country's central bank and appointed Ahmed Obaid Al Fadhli to replace Al Quaiti as finance minister.

According to the official Yemeni news agency, the president's decision follows government complaints that the central bank and its goverrnor had failed to handle the country's financial crisis objectively after becoming beholden to the Houthi enemy who control Sanaa.

The government also accused the bank of funneling large sums of money to Houthi militias, thus depleting the local and foreign currency reserves while failing to pay the salaries many government employees in areas outside of Houthi control in the southern governorates.

Yemen’s foreign reserves have fallen to just over $1 billion since the war began after Houthis took over Sanaa in 2014, forcing Hadi into exile.

Source: MENA