The rial ( ar, ريال يمني; sign: ﷼; abbreviation: YRl (singular) and YRls (plural) in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, ,ر.ي in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

; ISO code: YER) is the official currency of the

Republic of Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and sha ...

. It is technically divided into 100 fils, although coins denominated in fils have not been issued since

Yemeni unification Yemeni unification () took place on May 22, 1990, when the area of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (also known as South Yemen) was united with the Yemen Arab Republic (also known as North Yemen), forming the Republic of Yemen (known ...

. Due to the ongoing

political instability Political decay is a political theory, originally described by Samuel P. Huntington, which describes how chaos and disorder can arise from social modernization increasing more rapidly than political and institutional modernization. Huntington provid ...

, the value of Yemeni rial continues to fall. The Yemeni Civil War has caused the currency to diverge. In southern Yemen, which is primarily controlled by UAE-backed separatists and the former government backed by

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, ongoing printing has caused the currency to plummet into freefall. In northern Yemen, which is primarily controlled by Ansar Allah with support from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, banknotes printed after 2017 are not considered legal tender, and therefore, the exchange rate has remained stable. The differences in banknotes printed before and after 2017 can be determined by its size.

History

In the 18th and 19th century, the ''riyal'' was traditionally associated with the Maria Theresa thaler, a currency that was widely in use in Yemen owing to the Mocha coffee trade with the French, and a Yemeni request that its produce be paid with thalers. As Yemen progressed, it developed its own legal currency. After the union between the North (the

Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the northwestern part of what is now Yemen.The United States extend ...

) and the South (the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) in 1990, both the northern rial and the southern dinar remained legal tender during a transitional period, with 1 dinar exchanged for 26 rials. On 11 June 1996, the dinar was withdrawn from circulation. In 1993, the first coins were issued for the

. The value of the Yemeni rial against the

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

dropped significantly, compared to 12.01 rials per dollar in early the 1990s. Since the mid-1990s, the Yemeni rial has been freely convertible. Though it dropped from YRls 20 to approximately YRls 215 against the US dollar since then, the rial has been stable for several years. However, since 2010 the Central Bank of Yemen had to intervene many times, resulting in a serious decline of foreign reserves. By late 2013, the Economic Intelligence Unit expects reserves to decline to approximately 1.3 months of imports over the following years, despite information that Saudi Arabia would transfer $1 billion to the Yemeni Central Bank. Due to the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, the exchange rate for the Yemeni rial has hovered between 470 and 500 Yemeni rials for 1 US dollar.

Coins

When Yemen unified, coins had been issued in North Yemen in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 fils and 1 rial. The fils denominations have all disappeared from circulation. In 1993, new coins were introduced by the

Central Bank of Yemen The Central Bank of Yemen ( ar, البنك المركزي اليمني) is the central bank of Yemen. The Bank is engaged in developing policies to promote financial inclusion and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. The Centra ...

in denominations of 1 and 5 rials. These were followed by coins of 10 rials in 1995 and 20 rials in 2004.

Banknotes

At the time of unification, Central Bank of Yemen notes in circulation were 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 rials. In 1993, the 1 and 5 rial notes were replaced by coins, with the same happening to the 10 rial notes in 1995. In 1996, 200 rials notes were introduced, followed by 500 rials in 1997 and 1,000 rials in 1998. The 20 rial notes were replaced by coins in 2004. In addition, a 250 rial banknote was issued on November 14, 2009.BanknoteNews.com
Retrieved 2011-09-06. In 2017, the Central Bank of Yemen, now relocated in Aden, its interim capital due to the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, issued 500 and 1,000 rial banknotes with revised security features and different size dimensions. In 2018, the Central Bank of Yemen reintroduced the 200 rial banknote and has issued a new 100 rial banknote.

References

Sources

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External links