CBY RAISES INTEREST RATES ON RIAL DEPOSITS TO 15 PER CENT

SANA'A, March 27 (Saba) – The monetary management committee at the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) has approved raising the interest rates on rial deposits from 12 percent to 15 percent.

The Governor of CBY Ahmad al-Samawi told Saba that the bank is seeking through its decision to encourage savers in rial, and to make the interest rate on rial positive more than the inflation rate significantly.

He pointed out that the bank also aims by its decision to grant the rial depositors higher interest rates, indicating that the there are highly demands to deposit in riyal and this procedure would increase the return on the treasury bills by almost 2 to 3 percent of the minimum of 15 percent.

The bank's decision stipulated that the minimum interest rate on rial deposits is the minimum interest rate on rial deposits with banks and left the interest rate setting on the different terms to the banks, provided that not less than the minimum set by the CBY, which is 15 percent.

Al-Samawi considered the interest rates contained in the decision obligatory for all banks, excluding Islamic banks which have their own instruments, stressing that the CBY would take stringent actions against the commercial banks that infringe the decision.

The monetary management committee at the CBY approved in last January raising the interest rates on rial deposits from 10 percent to 12 percent.

BA