Billions of Yemeni rials have been seized out of national duty to protect public interests and prevent further depreciation of local currency, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) said following the burglary of Central Bank-owned seven containers full of Yemeni cash.
"The self-administration gave directives to preserve a number of containers that contain banking notes printed without cover, and to prevent their entry to the Central Bank" of Yemen (CBY), STC-run economic committee said in a statement.
The seizure aims at correcting the CBY's course, ensuring that effective measures would be taken to curb increase in exchange rates, and restoring balance to reasonable levels, the statement argued.
Earlier on Saturday, forces of the Emirati-backed STC appropriated billions of Yemeni rials from the southern seaport of Aden.
STC forces stormed into the container terminal and burgled seven cases full of local bank notes, sources at the Yemeni UN-recognized government said.
For the STC, this "comes as part of a package of measures to dry corruption springs and avoid the use of public funds in support of terrorism .. by some leaders of the Yemeni government.
"Since its relocation to Aden in September 2016, the CBY has illegally printed nearly two trillion rials without foreign money cover, leading to inflation and depreciation of local currency," the STC added.
While all these funds in its possession, the government has failed to provide basic services in Aden and other southern provinces or pay salaries of 10 months (six in 2017 and four in 2020) to southern military and security forces, it claimed.
"It's unjustified that the CBY continues transferring funds to [its branches in] Marib, Seyoun and Hodeida while they reject to transfer their revenues to Aden branch."
The STC called on the Saudi-led coalition to contribute to stabilizing the exchange market through reimbursing the Saudi deposit used to cover food imports, in the "presence of joint control from the self-administration, CBY and funders."
