Former member of the Central Bank of Libya’s Exchange Rate Committee, Misbah Al-Akkari, expressed his concerns on his official Facebook page:
“With the price of oil at $80 per barrel, the National Oil Corporation reports a production of 1.4 million barrels per day, while the Central Bank has supplied $1.3 billion to the market for various purposes within just 14 days. Meanwhile, the parallel market exchange rate stands at 6.6 LYD per dollar.”
He added:
“Logic indicates there is a problem. The first issue lies in the deposit of oil revenues to the Central Bank, as it is unreasonable that only $500 million was deposited in half a month.
The second and far more critical problem is the absence of a real deterrent force to confront criminals in the currency market.
The third issue concerns those applying to purchase foreign currency for a specific purpose but then using it for speculation instead.”
Al-Akkari continued:
“Why is it that only one entity issues reports, clarifies the truth to the public, and uses part of its reserves to mitigate the risks of the parallel market while everyone else watches as if the matter doesn’t concern them?!”
He proposed solutions, urging the state to act promptly with the following measures:
- Parliament should urgently pass a law criminalizing the sale of foreign currency outside the legal framework.
- The government, through the Ministry of Economy, should issue directives to ban the entry of goods into the country unless foreign currency was obtained through official channels.
- Security agencies, in cooperation with the banking sector, should investigate a sample of foreign currency recipients to verify the purpose of the funds and trace how they are used, penalizing any violations.
- Awareness campaigns should target both traders and citizens, emphasizing the severe harm caused by currency speculation during this period, which will ultimately result in significant losses for everyone involved.
