Houthi militias anticipate Ramadan with oil and gas price doses, and high prices expose their allegations of exchange stability
English - Wednesday 23 March 2022 الساعة 08:46 am
Sana'a, NewsYemen, a special report:
On the eve of the blessed month of Ramadan, Sanaa and the rest of the Houthi militia-controlled areas, the Iranian arm of Yemen, are experiencing catastrophic economic and living conditions, as a result of the economic policies practiced by the militias, whose burdens fall on the citizens and their daily lives.
Derivatives and gas crises accompanied by new doses
In a scene that reflects the scale of the disaster experienced by the citizens of the areas under the control of the Houthi militias, the traffic congestion crisis is absent from the streets of Sana’a for the first time in decades, which preceded the blessed month of Ramadan, as a result of the suffocating oil derivatives crisis that the militias insist on continuing to create by preventing the entry of derivatives Oil by traders from Yemeni ports that are under the control of the legitimate government, and the insistence on using this crisis as a means of pressure in order to obtain international assistance that would allow the entry of oil derivatives ships belonging to militia traders through the port of Hodeidah.
The militias were not satisfied with that, but rather implemented a new price dose with false justifications, as the price of a (20) liter cylinder of gasoline became 16,000 riyals under the name of a commercial price, as some quantities are pumped to some stations and sold at this price, forcing citizens to obtain a tank of oil with this The price is via leaky queues and claims that this price is due to what it claims are fines imposed by the oil company affiliated with the legitimate government on derivatives traders in its areas of control, while a 20-liter tank of gasoline is sold at the station of the militias’ oil company at a price of (9900) riyals under the pretext It is a price resulting from the fines caused by the delay in the entry of oil ships through the port of Hodeidah, which is done through long queues, the like of which the country has not seen for decades.
The fabrication of the crisis related to oil derivatives and the massive increase in their prices by the Houthi militias coincided with another crisis represented by a severe domestic gas crisis, a crisis that was accompanied by the militias implementing a new price dose of gas, as the price of gas reached the cylinder that is distributed to the citizen through Akal Al Harat (20 Liters (5900) riyals, with an increase of 1200 riyals in one go, and at the same time reducing the quantities of distribution to citizens by one cylinder per citizen per month, while the price of gas cylinders for transport vehicles was raised by more than two thousand riyals, reaching the price of ( 8220) riyals, so that each vehicle owner is allowed to fill up (20) liters only after a long queue.
Citizen Muhammad Saleh told NewsYemen: The crisis of oil derivatives and household gas that precedes the month of Ramadan confirms the reality of the policies of humiliation and insults practiced by the Houthi militia against people, which have reached the point of making his life limited to the pursuit of obtaining a gas cylinder, or a tank of petrol, and at the same time paying everything It has a price for it at prices no one expected it to reach.
He adds: The Houthis carried out a coup against the authority and took control of state institutions under the pretext of raising the price of a tank of gasoline to (3,500) riyals, while its price reached 16 thousand riyals officially and 40,000 riyals on the black market, and the prices of domestic gas cylinders increased from 1200 to 6 thousand officially and 20 thousand Riyals are deliberately on the black market in militia-controlled areas, and it is accompanied by Houthi measures that prevent the citizen from even expressing his anger over it, and even practice the most heinous violations against him if he rejects these deliberate impoverishment policies, the least of which is his arrest and imprisonment without charge.
And Muhammad concludes: Ramadan this year will be hell for people in light of these conditions, yet you find the Houthi militias singing what they call steadfastness, pride and dignity, while they crush the dignity and pride of people in their areas of control in a way that Yemen has not witnessed before.
Unprecedented price hike
In the same context, Sanaa and the Houthi militia-controlled areas are witnessing an insane rise in the prices of various basic and non-essential commodities, and it has become a daily scene where citizens sleep at the price of a particular commodity, and they wake up and its price has changed.
The allegations of the Houthi militia that they are achieving an economic achievement through stabilizing the price of the dollar and foreign currencies against the Yemeni riyal fell by a knockout through the insane rise in prices that have exceeded even prices in areas controlled by the legitimate government despite the difference in the exchange rate of foreign currencies against the national currency, which confirms The allegations of the Houthis about the stability of the exchange rate are just lies through which they are trying to cover up their great economic failure.
Months ago, the exchange rate of the riyal against the US dollar in militia-controlled areas was 600 riyals per dollar, and the price of a bag of wheat was 11,500 riyals, and today, while the price of the dollar against the riyal remains the same, the price of a bag of wheat reached 21 thousand riyals, an increase of 100 However, the militias are still proud of their false achievement.
Salim Ahmed comments on this by saying to NewsYemen: The rise in prices reveals the truth of Houthi nonsense about economic success and the stability of the exchange rate, which only reflects one fact, which is the extent of the security grip with which the militias deal with the exchange market and money changers, while the truth is that this is nothing but an imaginary price. Every day that the prices of various commodities rise, the reality of the Houthi economic failure is revealed, and at the same time, their lies and claims about the success of the stability of the local currency exchange rate against foreign currencies are exposed.
He adds: Perhaps comparing the prices of commodities in the areas controlled by the Houthi militia to their prices in the areas controlled by the legitimate government in light of the difference in the foreign exchange rate against the Yemeni riyal in each region confirms the fact that their prices in the Houthi areas are much greater than they are in the legitimate areas, and provides evidence that The stability of the exchange rate in the militia areas is a fictitious situation due to security practices only and has nothing to do with any policies, procedures or economic successes calculated in favor of the militias, as they claim.
And he concludes: The insane rise in prices in Sanaa and the Houthi areas that precedes Ramadan constitutes a catastrophe that threatens a great famine that will affect thousands of poor and destitute families, and even those that live in an economic situation that enables them to live, as they will find themselves unable to provide even a living and basic materials to feed their children and families in This continued rise in prices, which is accompanied by the militias’ continued non-payment of employees’ salaries, was added to the list of crises of oil derivatives, household gas, and other associated crises related to the rise in the prices of electricity and water services and transportation and transportation fees.
