2025: The year the economic masks fell in Libya — Al-Shahoumi to Sada: “Runaway spending and unchecked corruption… and his outlook for 2026”

Economic expert Suleiman Al‑Shahoumi told our sourcce that 2025 was, without doubt, the year in which the true state of Libya’s economy was exposed. He said the reality of the economic and monetary situation has become clear to everyone, noting an unprecedented level of runaway public spending. He pointed to the legislature’s lack of concern for regulating public expenditure through issuing a unified law governing spending, stressing that the consequences have been severe for Libya’s economy. He also referred to the so-called public debt law, which set public debt at more than 300 billion dinars without proper auditing, classification, or fully assigning responsibility for it.

He added that oil revenues have declined, oil data has been lost, and export figures have conflicted due to a lack of transparency by the National Oil Corporation regarding production and what is actually transferred to the Central Bank. He also noted the re-formation of the Central Bank’s board under the claim that it would create a unified central bank, only for it to become clear that the bank remains divided and bears responsibility for the severe and unprecedented liquidity crisis that emerged in 2025.

Al-Shahoumi continued by saying that institutions claiming to play an oversight role have in reality failed completely to monitor public funds. He described unprecedented waste of public money and corruption in contracting, to the extent that anyone able to sign contracts has begun doing so. In his view, 2025 was a year of full exposure for everyone—economists and non-economists alike—revealing just how dangerous the situation in Libya has become. He stressed that the country urgently needs serious consolidation and a clear, well-defined project to reorganize the economy, something that could possibly begin in 2026 if there is genuine intent; otherwise, the situation will only worsen.

Regarding the dollar, Al-Shahoumi said demand for foreign currency has risen sharply, mainly due to the severe cash liquidity crisis, which in turn has driven up dollar prices in the parallel market because of the shortage of cash. He noted that, despite the Central Bank’s attempts to curb dollar trading in the parallel market, the measures taken unilaterally have not improved the situation. He described current monetary policy as erratic, with a loss of effective monetary tools—most notably the interest rate.

He also pointed out that governments continue to engage in uncontrolled spending, stressing that the situation requires firm discipline, regulation, and a comprehensive restructuring of public spending. This includes reorganizing economic behavior and coordinating fiscal tools—such as supporting the government through taxes, restructuring the tax and customs systems, and improving transparency—alongside capable and effective monetary policies to manage liquidity and cash in the economy.

Al-Shahoumi concluded by saying that this, in his view, is what 2026 should look like if Libya truly wants to reorganize and restructure its economy in a way that takes into account the conditions of ordinary citizens, reins in inflation and soaring prices, and addresses the economic chaos related to imports, the absence of exports, lack of controls, and the absence of a regulatory framework—issues that were all evident in 2025 and which he hopes will be brought under control in the coming year.