Accelerating collapse of basic services in Aden sparks massive popular protests

ADEN, May 23 (YPA) – Massive popular protests were staged on Thursday in the city of Aden, south of Yemen, due to the accelerating collapse of basic services and the rise in local currency prices.

In the protests, hundreds of protesters blocked the main streets in Aden following the arrival of the prime minister of the coalition-backed Aden government to presidential Maashiq Palace in the Crater area, coming from Saudi Arabia.

The protests also expanded to the Buraiqa area, where the protesters blocked the main streets to denounce the continuous deterioration of electricity services and the collapse of the local currency against the US dollar, whose value reaches 1,745 Yemeni riyals, while a Saudi riyal exceeds 465 Yemeni riyals during the past hours.

The protesters set fire to damaged tires in the middle of the streets and blocked them in front of cars, amid demands to improve economic conditions and the rise in food prices.

The Aden government had contributed to the destruction of the national economy by printing more than 5 trillion and 320 billion Yemeni riyals without a monetary cover after transferring the management of the Central Bank from Sanaa to Aden between 2016 and 2021.

Director of the Aden-based Central Bank of, Ahmed Al-Maqi, had admitted in a television interview in June 2023 that printing currency without cover by the government “represented an economic setback.

AA