Yemen's foreign currency reserves declined sharply in the first half of this year due to persistent unrest and associated problems, the Central Bank of Yemen said on Tuesday, expecting the inflation rate, now at 15 percent, will decrease soon.
Governor of the Bank, Muhammad bin Hamam, said the foreign currency reserves fell by $1.3 billion and that they reached by July 30 $4.6 billion. The reserves are expected to increase when the political crisis ends, he said.
The crisis caused problems including acute shortages, persistent power outages, factory closures and record layoff figures, and affected tourism revenue and direct foreign investments in the country, he said.
Owing to this, the Bank intervened pumping large funds of hard currencies and that was a key reason for the sharp drop of the foreign currency reserves, he said.
Meantime, Yemen is facing severe crises topped by acute fuel, cooking gas and water shortages and military operations against Al-Qaeda and revolution defenders in some cities, and continuous dueling protests that have largely affected the national economy and triggered warnings of the country's collapse.