Alsahwa Net- The Houthis rebels continue withdrawing the newly-printed banknotes of the Yemeni national currency from citizens’ hands and replacing it with a fake currency it named as “electronic rial”.

The action is part of the rebels’ illegal campaign against the newly printed banknotes of the Yemeni national currency which the legitimate government printed over the past two years. 

The Houthis’ action increased sufferings of the citizens who live in the Houthis-held areas where the Houthis banned last week circulation of the new banknotes and threatened one-year prison to anyone found using the new notes.

This week thousands of people in the Houthis-held areas were stranded in commercial shops and transportation routes when they found that their cash was declined by cashiers because it was a new banknote.

Banking sources and residents in Sana’a said that the Houthis’ illegal action created confusion in the market and deprived those who possess the new banknotes from buying food and medicine.

Vendors and traders of the Houthis-held areas decline acceptance of the new banknotes in fear of cash confiscation and imprisonment by the Houthis militia.

The legitimate government urged this week the United Nations (UN) to intervene at reversal of the Houthis’ action that threatens Yemen’s economy and food security of the people.

Headquarters of the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) in Aden which is managed by the legitimate government took this week some measures to control the Houthis’ “declared war against the national currency”.

The CBY in Aden instructed money exchange services to renew their licenses from the bank’s headquarters in Aden or its branches in the government-held areas.

It says that all money exchange services must apply for license renewal during January and February 2020 in line to the bank’s instruction.