PARLIAMENT PANEL AS YEMENI RIYAL FALLS SHARPLY VS. U.S. DOLLAR

SANA'A, March 23 (Saba) - Yemen's Parliament has approved to set up a
committee to study the current situation of the Yemeni riyal with
the government and report on progress in a short time,the Septmber
website reporte on Tuesday.

The committee came after Parliament on Monday heard the
clarifications of Minister of Finance Noman al-Suhaibi and Yemen
Central Bank Abdul Rahman al-Samawi over the sharp fall of the
Yemeni riyal against the U.S. dollar.

The government said that economic, political and social reasons
contributed to the deterioration of the national currency including
the latest local, regional and international developments.

Since early this year, the demand for the U.S. dollar has soared
leading to its high trade rates and negatively affecting the Yemeni
currency, they made clear.

The bank has taken several measures to boost the confidence of the
national currency including increasing the interest rate and
disallowing over-liquidation to finance economic activities in the
country, al-Samawi said.

These days one U.S. dollar is trading for 217.5 Yemeni riyals,
according to exchange firms.

FR