RIYADH (Debriefer)--The Ansar Allah group, known as the Houthis, is blackmailing banks and money exchange firms in regions under its control, the Yemeni government has said.
Information minister, Muammar Al-Eryani, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that the group is taking 30% of each money transfer from outside Yemen or from regions under the control of the government.
"Deductions from remittances of expatriates or citizens inside the country is a criminal act and collective punishment amidst deteriorating living conditions and deepening humanitarian crisis," he said.
The government has accused the Houthis of stealing the national foreign currency reserves, public revenues and salaries of public servants for five years and imposing illegal taxes and customs duties.
Harassing banks and exchange firms means cutting the remaining artery of the national economy which is helping save the lives of millions of people, Al-Eryani said.
Late last year, the group ordered to stop the circulation of new banknotes issued by the government under the justification of protecting the national currency from total collapse.
The move confused exchange firms across the country, forcing them to increase the transfer fees to 30% of the value of a remittance to secure the difference of exchange rates.
The Yemeni rial has fallen to the lowest level against the US dollar in the past two years. It is trading at 814 per US dollar in the government-run regions and 608 per US dollar in Houthi-run regions.
