The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) in Aden, the country's temporary capital, issued a statement on Sunday, July 14, 2024, denying the authenticity of a circulating memo attributed to Governor Ahmed Ghalib al-Maabaqi. The memo allegedly instructed the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, to reverse recent decisions made by the bank.

The statement, published on the CBY's official X account monitored by "Barran Press", labeled the memo as "forged" and urged the public to "exercise caution, avoid relying on unofficial sources, and verify the authenticity of any information attributed to the Central Bank of Yemen from its official sources only."

The CBY emphasized the importance of relying solely on its official channels, including its website and social media platforms, for accurate and updated information.

The circulation of the memo coincided with reports from Houthi rebels claiming that the implementation of the CBY's recent decisions had been postponed. These reports attributed the postponement to a request from the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, who urged all parties to postpone the implementation and engage in dialogue under UN auspices to discuss economic developments.

"Bran Press" obtained a letter from Grundberg to the Presidential Leadership Council, in which he expressed concern over CBY Decision No. 30 of 2024, which suspended the licenses of six banks and subsequent communication with correspondent banks and the SWIFT system. Grundberg argued that this would "lead to the cessation of access for those banks to correspondent banks and the SWIFT system."

The UN envoy urged the Yemeni government and the CBY to "postpone the implementation of the decisions at least until the end of August," and called for "the initiation of dialogue under UN auspices between Yemeni parties to discuss recent economic developments in Yemen."

In response to Grundberg's letter, the Presidential Leadership Council held an "emergency meeting" to discuss the matter. The Council reaffirmed its "commitment to a clear agenda for participation in any dialogue on the economic file."

The Council stipulated that any dialogue on the economic file would require "the resumption of oil exports, the unification of the national currency, the cancellation of all arbitrary measures against the banking sector, and the business community."

Last week, the CBY, under Governor al-Maabaqi, revoked the licenses of 26 exchange companies, effective from late last month, and ordered the closure of their branches indefinitely for violating bank decisions and instructions.

These decisions followed two previous ones: the imposition of a unified network for domestic transfers, the prohibition of dealing with 12 unlicensed electronic payment entities, and the permanent cessation of operations in local money transfer networks owned by banks, financial institutions, or exchange companies operating in Yemen.

On May 30, the CBY in Aden issued a decision to cease dealings with six Yemeni banks and financial institutions after the expiration of a 60-day deadline for them to relocate their headquarters to Aden.

The CBY also issued another decision urging all individuals, businesses, companies, other entities, and financial and banking institutions holding pre-2016 banknotes of various denominations to deposit them within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the announcement.