The Central Bank of Yemen, based in the temporary capital of Aden (southern Yemen), declared on Friday, June 7th, 2024, that its recent decisions are being implemented according to the planned schedule and deadlines. The bank issued a warning against the spread of what it termed "suspicious rumors."

In a statement published by the official Yemeni news agency Saba, a source within the Central Bank confirmed the validity of its decisions, stating that they will contribute to ending the "chaos" inflicted on the banking and financial sector by the Houthi group, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization.

The source reiterated the "sovereignty" of the bank's actions, emphasizing their purely monetary and banking nature, independent of any directives and devoid of any connection to local, regional, or international events or entities.

The Central Bank's decisions, the source clarified, are "purely technical financial measures, with no political motivations, taken under the bank's authority, independence, and legal responsibilities to protect the banking sector from collapse, contrary to the claims of the Houthi group."

According to Saba, the source urged media outlets to maintain professionalism and national responsibility, avoiding the spread of rumors propagated by suspicious media outlets and websites that source their information from the Houthi security apparatus without verification.

On Thursday, Yemeni social media users circulated news attributed to Bloomberg, claiming that the Central Bank's actions in Aden are part of a Washington plan to halt Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and push them towards peace.

On May 30th, the Central Bank decided to suspend dealings with six Yemeni banks and financial institutions after their 60-day deadline to relocate their headquarters to Aden expired.

The bank also issued another decision urging all individuals, businesses, companies, other entities, and financial and banking institutions holding old banknotes printed before 2016, regardless of denomination, to deposit them within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the announcement.

The Central Bank, in a statement published on its official website, urged citizens, non-financial institutions, businesses, and other entities without Central Bank accounts to deposit their old banknotes at commercial and Islamic banks and their branches in liberated governorates.

It also urged banks and financial and banking institutions with Central Bank accounts to deposit their old banknotes at the Central Bank's main headquarters in Aden and its branches in various liberated governorates.

In its decision, the Central Bank appealed to "all financial and banking institutions and citizens holding amounts of these banknotes to respond immediately to this announcement to protect their funds and serve the public good," stressing that it "will not bear any responsibility for any consequences arising from failure to address the content of this announcement seriously and to promptly implement its provisions within the specified period."