Economic expert Mohammed Al-Barghouti confirmed in an exclusive statement to our source that the continued rise in the dollar’s exchange rate comes despite the Central Bank of Libya injecting large amounts of foreign currency through letters of credit and personal-use cards, explaining that market demand remains high and significantly exceeds the available supply.
Al-Barghouti clarified that the reasons behind this rise are multiple, but the most prominent are centered around three main factors. The first is the delay in executing letters of credit and bank cards, as the waiting period for many pending operations has exceeded more than a month without implementation. He pointed out that this delay is linked to oil revenues not being deposited into the Central Bank’s accounts on time, in addition to the auditing and review procedures carried out by K2 on foreign currency movements internally and externally, which has slowed down the execution cycle.
He also noted that seasonal demand in preparation for the months of Ramadan and Eid has contributed to a surge in foreign-currency demand, as traders intensified import operations to cover market needs during this period. This created additional pressure, while the amounts injected by the Central Bank were not sufficient to balance this increase in demand.
Al-Barghouti added that the widening gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel-market rate has encouraged speculation and rapid conversion from the dinar to the dollar in pursuit of profit. This made foreign-currency injections through official channels insufficient on their own to curb the market as long as speculation remains profitable.
The economic expert concluded by emphasizing that these three factors—the delay in execution, the high seasonal demand, and the price gap—constitute the main drivers behind the continued rise in the exchange rate. He stressed that without simultaneous solutions to these underlying causes, the dollar will continue trending upward regardless of how much foreign currency the Central Bank injects.
