RIYADH: Yemen’s government ordered a temporary halt to imports of luxury goods, including automobiles, in a bid to prop up the struggling local currency, according to a statement tweeted by the information minister on Sunday.
The government, whose members are based in the southern city of Aden and the Saudi capital, Riyadh, following the 2015 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis group, also ordered a 30 percent increase in public-sector salaries, including for pensioners and contractors.
Protests over Yemen’s weakening currency paralyze Aden
Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against Yemen’s deteriorating economic situation and weakening currency blocked major roads and burned tires in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, with shops and government offices closing.
By evening, the country’s internationally recognized government ordered a temporary halt on imports of luxury goods like automobiles and a 30 percent salary increase for public-sector employees, including pensioners and contractors.
Soaring prices have put some basic commodities out of reach for many Yemenis and the central bank has struggled to pay public-sector salaries on which many depend as foreign exchange reserves dwindle.
Yemen is one of the poorest Arab countries and the war has pushed it toward humanitarian collapse as hunger and disease spread. The United Nations has convened talks in Geneva on Thursday, the first effort to negotiate the conflict in more than two years.
Aden’s usually bustling markets were empty on Sunday after the coordinating council of the General Confederation of Southern Workers’ Unions called for civil disobedience. Plumes of smoke from burning tires filled the air, including in the main square where a National Bank of Yemen building is located.
