CBY imposes fines on exchange companies

SANA'A, July 31 (Saba)¿ The Central Bank of
Yemen (CBY)'s Governor Mohamed bin Hammam said on Saturday that the bank would take
strict
actions against money exchange companies, which refuse to sell to the public.
During a meeting with head and members of the board of the Exchangers Association,
Bin Hammam pointed out that the actions to be taken by the bank would include
withdrawal
of licenses in case of repeating breaches by the exchange companies and money
exchangers.
In this context, the Undersecretary of CBY for Control Sector on Banks Mohamed
al-Rawdhi revealed in a statement to Saba that the bank imposed financial fines on
a number
of exchange companies and money exchangers, RY 300 thousand per a breach.
These actions came after inspection visits paid by the CBY's inspectors to some
exchange companies and money exchangers to monitor the foreign exchange market,
al-Rawdhi
explained.
He indicated that there were some irregularities by money exchangers, represented
in their refusal to sell the U.S. Dollar to the public.
It is noteworthy that the CBY injected last Thursday $ 57 million into the exchange
market to meet needs of foreign exchanges, for the second intervention by the bank
in
July and the ninth since the beginning of 2010.
This intervention brings the total amount pumped by the bank since the beginning of
this year to about $ 1.15 billion, of which $ 173 million is payments for Yemen
imports
of wheat.
The bank's interventions come to reduce the depreciation of the local currency
against foreign currencies.
In a previous statement to Saba, bin Hammam attributed the new downturn in the
exchange rate of Riyal against foreign currencies, especially the U.S. Dollar, to
the increase
of payments for importing requirements of the Holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
He did not rule out the presence of speculators were manipulating in the exchange
rates.
BA