Saudi Arabia supports Yemen central bank with deposit extension and funds

Yemeni central bank says final instalment of promised cash amounts to $174 million

Employees count stacks of Yemeni currency at the central bank in the southern port city of Aden. AFP

Saudi Arabia has extended a deposit it gave the central bank of Yemen's internationally recognised government in 2018 and agreed to pay the final instalment of the promised $2 billion, the kingdom's ambassador said.

The Saudi Arabian finance ministry said on Monday the 2018 deposit duration would be extended and this would be used to support Yemen's currency and economy.

The central bank — now based in Aden, the interim headquarters of Yemen's internationally recognised government — said the final instalment that would be paid amounted to $174 million.

“Work is also under way to discuss the governance and mechanism of the deposit, which was provided by the Kingdom and the UAE in the amount of $2 billion,” Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen Mohammed Al Jaber said in a tweet.

Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that intervened against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015, after the group ousted Yemen's internationally recognised government from power in the capital Sanaa the previous year.

The central bank is now split in two between Houthi-controlled Sanaa and the internationally recognised offices in Aden.

Saudi Arabia last month said it would arrange a new support package of $3 billion for Yemen's economy, comprising $2 billion from Riyadh and another $1 billion from the UAE.