War and currency in crisis mean Yemenis have to go without Eid traditions

Aisha Mohammed left the market where residents of Yemen’s southern city of Aden usually buy sacrificial animals for Eid Al Adha empty-handed.

“I couldn’t afford it. Prices have spiked incredibly,” the widowed mother of five told The National.

“It is very hard to tell my kids that I couldn’t buy audhiya [a sacrificial animal] for them,” she said, fighting back tears.

Ms Mohammed is one of millions of Yemenis struggling to cope with rising prices caused by a drop in the value of the rial, which has added to difficulties they face as a result of the civil war.

The fall in the currency’s value has forced traders to increase prices because they have to pay more for imports bought with US dollars.

In provinces controlled by the Yemeni government, the exchange rate of the rial to the dollar briefly passed 1,000 last week, compared with 850 in early June.

The decline is expected to continue, said Majed Al Daeri, an economic analyst in Aden.

“The six years of war have destroyed all the economic resources of the country, such as the oil and gas, the two main resources,” he said. “Also, the excessive printing of banknotes by the government, which printed nearly three trillion rials without cash cover since 2016.”

The policy has affected cash reserves and the availability of foreign currency in the local market.

“All these reasons contributed to the dramatic collapse of the national currency.”

The soaring prices mean most Yemenis cannot afford to observe Eid Al Adha traditions.

“The fact is that we haven’t started any preparations for the coming Eid because of the hard living conditions,” said retired policeman Mohammed Omar.

“We haven’t been paid for months, and even if the government pays us one month’s wage, that means nothing with the plunge in the value of the rial.”

Mr Omar said his monthly pension was 150,000 rials, while the smallest animal would cost 100,000 rials.

“That means we either buy audhiya for Eid and stay without food supplies, or buy necessary foodstuffs and forget about Eid,” he said.

The crisis is affecting sellers. The livestock market in Al Mansoura, the biggest cattle market in Aden, is usually crowded before Eid Al Adha. On Wednesday, there were few customers.

“The depreciation in the Yemeni rial hasn’t spared the livestock market,” said trader Abu Baker Al Alimi.

“All the cattle this year were imported from Somalia because Yemeni livestock is very expensive. Customers can’t afford it.”

He said prices this year were twice those of last year. “The smallest goat or sheep is $100 this year. People were able to buy a good sacrificial animal with less than $50 last year.”