Houthi destructive practices against the national economy

Houthi militia's extortions and blackmail were the main factor behind the bankruptcies that a number of stores and shops in Yemen's Ibb Governorate were exposed to in various commercial activities.

According to the information we obtained from several sources, the militia turned the boom in commercial activity witnessed by the governorate into an opportunity for looting, profit, and raising revenues, and blackmailed merchants until many of them declared bankruptcy.

The sources indicated that some Houthi leaders stipulated that some merchants and investors obtain fixed percentages of income in exchange for opening their projects, which turned those leaders into partners without capital, and this certainly had harsh consequences for the merchants.

The prominent activist in Ibb, Ibrahim Asqin, also highlighted in several discussions over the past few days the state of commercial conditions in the governorate as a result of Houthi levies, saying: “Ibb governorate has tried not to lose much since the beginning of the war, as owners of capital have headed to it from the areas affected by the war to open their projects and shops, as it is safe and stable, and there has been an unprecedented commercial movement there.”

He added: "But where!! With whom!! Al-Houthi and his group are present and watching all of this. They have left no means, pretext, or name to plunder the big and small merchants without using it (taxes, duties, improvement, customs, war effort, the Prophet's birthday, tourism, the Office of Industry and Trade, the Day of Allegiance, the Day of the Scream, support for the missile force, the pretext of supporting Gaza, the pretext of supporting Lebanon, the right of Sayyid Hassan, the right of Sayyid Hussein...).

He explained in a tweet that as a result, many merchants fled, some went bankrupt, hundreds of shops, restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, markets and other establishments closed their doors, and others were put up for sale, vacancy and rent, while a large number of shops and establishments are unable to pay rents.

To know the most important reasons and motives that caused the recession in many commercial sectors and the losses incurred by the markets in Ibb Governorate as a model for the governorates under the control of the Houthi militia, from an economic perspective, the journalist specializing in economic affairs, "Wafiq Saleh", confirmed that this "is due to the significant decline in consumer spending on goods and services by the population, as a result of the imbalances and destructive practices of economic activities by the Houthi militia."

In addition to the suffering of the market movement in the areas controlled by the Houthis, the militias impose various financial levies on citizens, merchants, and other segments of society, in light of the lack of liquidity, purchasing power, and the absence of job opportunities. This exacerbates the state of depression and paralyzes the markets with unprecedented commercial paralysis.

The continuation of the recession in the areas controlled by the Houthis, the expansion of unemployment rates, and the decline in the ability of families to bear the burdens of the cost of living, will lead to "the spread of the humanitarian crisis and the multiplication of its effects and repercussions in a devastating manner."

The only solution to stop this collapse is for the militia to stop these destructive practices against the national economy and for the economic cycle to return to its normal form.