Yemen’s legitimate government in Aden stressed Monday the need to stabilize the value of the rial to confront the ongoing attempts by the Iran-backed Houthi militias to destroy the national economy and exacerbate the suffering of the people.

The value of the rial has been dropping, trading at around 602 against the US dollar.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik met in Riyadh on Monday with the newly appointed governor of the central bank.

The PM urged Ahmed al-Fadhl to counter Houthi practices that are harming the value of the currency, said official government sources.

Abdul Malik warned him of the impact of speculation, money laundering, counterfeiting and other misuse of money that have been hitting the national currency hard, causing its devaluation.

He urged the bank to take measures to stem the adverse effects and keep the currency exchange rate stable to prevent further repercussions on the Yemeni people, who have been suffering from the Houthi coup.

The PM praised the Saudi support offered to the Yemeni government and the Central Bank for maintaining the value of the rial.

The government’s efforts to halt the uncontrolled depreciation of the rial came in light of the Houthis’ ongoing attempts to abuse local banks, exchange companies and money remittance firms and looting state funds.

Houthis recently ordered the closure of six exchange and money transfer firms in areas under their control.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani revealed the Houthis ordered the closure of the firms as part of their economic embargo that aims to starve the people and finance their war against the legitimate government.

Traders said it cost as much as 607 rials to buy one dollar in the black market on Sunday and 602 to sell, while it stood at 450 per dollar at the daily benchmark set by the central bank compared to 215 rial to the dollar before the start of the crisis, four years ago.A.awsat