The Black Box in Jeddah: What is Saudi Arabia Hiding Behind the Missing Billions of Yemen?

NYN | Reports and Analyses

Since the outbreak of the war in Yemen in 2015, its repercussions have not been limited to physical and human destruction but have extended to the economy, where financial collapse has become one of the most prominent features of the Yemeni scene.

Amid the Saudi-Emirati coalition’s intervention, promises to “support the Yemeni people” failed to prevent the collapse of the local currency. Instead, the crisis worsened, threatening millions with hunger and poverty.

Before the war, the exchange rate of the Yemeni rial was 240 rials to the dollar and 57 rials to the Saudi rial. However, after a decade of “war of attrition,” the economic collapse became a defining characteristic under the coalition’s rule, with the dollar surpassing 2222 Yemeni rials and the Saudi rial exceeding 582 rials, according to the latest data.

The reported figures reveal a systematic monopoly exercised by Saudi Arabia against the Yemeni economy by withholding $14 billion in revenues from Yemeni crude oil at the National Bank in Jeddah. If these funds were handed over to the Central Bank in Sanaa, as pledged by the Houthis, they could have solved a range of crises, including paying civil servant salaries in all Yemeni governorates, halting the sharp decline of the local currency, rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure, and saving millions of Yemenis from the threat of famine.

The financial policies of the coalition contradict their stated slogans of “supporting the Yemeni people.” While Saudi Arabia justifies its war with the aim of “restoring legitimacy,” it redirects Yemen’s wealth into its own coffers, while nearly 80% of the population lives in poverty, and basic services like electricity and healthcare collapse. This scenario highlights the stark contradiction between the coalition’s media rhetoric and its actual practices.

International economic experts confirm that Yemen’s oil revenues are the exclusive property of the Yemeni people, and that Saudi Arabia’s withholding of these funds constitutes a violation of international law, especially as it is used as a leverage to push political agendas.

They also pointed out that Saudi Arabia is waging an economic war in parallel with the military conflict by turning Yemen into a nation reliant on imports, even for basic goods, while it exports Yemeni oil as a “war booty.”

The Yemeni tragedy not only reflects the failure of the Saudi-Emirati coalition to achieve its goals but also reveals a tragic paradox under the banner of “protecting Yemen” while economically and living conditions are being destroyed.

The most pressing question remains: How long will the world wait to stop this absurdity? And how do the coalition countries justify making the Yemeni people pay the cost of a war in which they are the primary victims?