Barran Press
The Southern Transitional Council (STC) has issued a warning about the potential "negative consequences" of halting or suspending decisions made by the Central Bank of Yemen, aimed at preventing the Houthi group, designated as a terrorist organization by the international community, from controlling the banking sector.
This warning was delivered during a meeting of the STC's General Secretariat, held at its headquarters in the capital Aden on Sunday, where they discussed a report on the political landscape in the country during the first half of June, according to the council's website.
The meeting addressed a range of developments in the southern Yemeni scene, including the potential negative repercussions of halting or suspending the Central Bank's decisions.
Warnings have been escalating towards the Presidential Leadership Council regarding the reversal of the Central Bank's decisions, following a letter from the UN envoy urging the council to postpone the implementation of recent Central Bank decisions related to the suspension of licenses for banks that have failed to relocate their headquarters to Aden, declared as the temporary capital of Yemen.
In a series of decisions last week, Governor Ahmed Al-Maabaqirevoked the licenses of 26 exchange companies since late last month and ordered the closure of their branches indefinitely for violating the bank's decisions and instructions.
These decisions followed two previous ones, including the imposition of a unified network for domestic remittances and the prohibition of dealing with 12 unlicensed electronic payment entities. The Central Bank also permanently halted operations of local financial transfer networks owned by banks, financial institutions, or exchange companies operating in Yemen.
On May 30th, the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden, declared as the temporary capital, issued a decision to cease dealing with six Yemeni banks and financial institutions after the 60-day deadline for implementing its decision to relocate their main offices to Aden expired.
The Central Bank also issued another decision urging all individuals, commercial establishments, companies, other entities, and financial and banking institutions holding old banknotes printed before 2016, in various denominations, to deposit them within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the announcement.