Yemeni riyal fell further against the US dollar as the central bank pumped $57 million into the exchange market, the latest of a series of cash injections to support the tumbling currency which hit a record low this week.

Nine injections into the market have been unable to stop the continuous fall of the riyal this year, which has fallen almost 16 per cent from a level of 208 against the dollar mid-January.

The currency fell to RO242 versus the dollar on Sunday, currency traders in Sanaa said, the worst exchange rate of the riyal in history. They said they expected the currency to fall further to RO250 in the coming week.

The central bank had injected $80 million two weeks ago, but the riyal had continued to fall against the dollar. The decision to pump another $57 million announced yesterday has also not seemed to stabilise the riyal, an analyst said.

"This is at a critical level," John Sfakianakis of Banque Saudi Fransi was quoted as saying in our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News.

"The central bank has already injected close to 20 per cent of its reserves."

Sfakianakis said the continuous fall of the riyal this year was due to the political climate.

"The political and security challenges add to the uncertainty about Yemen itself - there are a host of things, the northern war, Al Qaeda, pirates," he added. – TradeArabia News Service