As Yemeni riyal is in free fall, worst may be yet to come
The Yemeni riyal's loss of more than 15% of its value in a matter of days will make establishing peace more difficult by exacerbating inequality.
As the war in Yemen approaches its fourth year, there seems to be no shortage of suffering in the country. After the killing of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Dec. 4, the internationally recognized government, led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, promised progress on various battle fronts, in particular to recapture Hodeidah, but little has been achieved in this regard.
As a consequence of the war, Yemen is currently witnessing the worst economic decline since the founding of the modern republics of North Yemen and South Yemen in the late 1960s. The current situation led on Jan. 5 to the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mark Lowcock, describing the situation as possibly the worst humanitarian crisis in half a century. The crisis has grown even worse since his statement's release due to a free-fall in recent days by the Yemeni riyal against foreign currencies.
