SANA'A, March 19 (Saba) - The Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) has fed the exchange market with $136 million to cover the market needs, an official source in the CBY has said.

The sum brought the total amount the bank has pumped since the beginning of 2010 to $731 million.

The source confirmed that the bank will raise next week the interest rates for Yemeni Riyal deposits in an attempt to encounter the incessant decline of the national currency against the foreign ones.

The bank has increased early in March two points on the rate of interest for Riyal to amount to a 12 percent.

The move will make the Riyal deposit more beneficial for the depositors compared to the foreign currency deposits, which its interest rates near to zero, the source said, expecting that the zero rates for foreign currencies will last during the current year 2010.

The bank will continue to monitor the exchange market and provide it with its needs of the foreign currency, he said.

It is worth to mention that this is the second interference the bank made in March. The bank pumped in March 01 about $100 million.

AF/AF