Our source publishes the report of the Banking Supervision Department at the Central Bank regarding banks’ uses of foreign exchange during the past January

Our source exclusively obtained a copy of the report of the Banking and Cash Control Department at the Central Bank of Libya during January 2023.

It included the banks’ uses of foreign exchange during the month of January 2023, which amounted to about $1,525,729,327, compared to $1,195,530,238 during the same month of the last year 2022, an increase of about $330,199,089 million, that is, a growth rate of 27.6%.

Documentary credits accounted for 59.9% of the total uses of foreign exchange by banks, while personal purposes accounted for 38.9% of the total, while remittances constituted only 1.2% of the total uses.

Amounts sold to banks of foreign exchange for all purposes:

The total amounts of foreign exchange sold to banks during the month of January 2023, through the system for following up purchase and coverage requests, and foreign exchange sales for personal purposes at the Central Bank of Libya, amounted to about $1,525,729,327, compared to $1,195,530,238 during the same month of the last year 2022, an increase of about $330,199,089.

This is within the framework of the Banking and Cash Control Department’s follow-up of accepted purchase requests for documentary credits and remittances, submitted by banks through the coverage requests follow-up system, as well as the foreign exchange sales system for personal purposes, in accordance with the Central Bank of Libya’s Board of Directors Decision No. (1) of 2020 regarding amending the exchange rate of the Libyan dinar, and the Banking and Currency Control Department Circular No. (9/2020).

It also became clear that Jumhouria Bank was the most used bank for foreign exchange during the month of January 2023, maintaining its first rank among the most important banks with a market share of 13.5% relative importance, as the total amounts amounted to about 206,183,825 dollars, followed by Yaqeen Bank with a value of 202,210,471 dollars, excelling On Amen Bank for Trade and Investment, which came in third place with a value of 192,827,385 dollars. Then, in terms of relative importance, the following banks come in order: The National Commercial Bank, Nuran Bank, the Libyan Islamic Bank, Al-Wahda Bank, the United Bank, and other banks, as shown in the table below, which also contains a ranking of banks in January 2023 compared to January 2022.

The number of companies, factories, public entities, and other entities (184) whose applications were approved during the month of January 2023 to obtain foreign exchange amounted to 323 applications, most of these applications cover letters of credit.

Banks’ requests to cover letters of credit and transfers:

(According to the beneficiary countries) According to the beneficiary countries during the month of January 2023, it is clear that 99.0% of bank transfers to cover letters of credit or other transfers were to the United Arab Emirates.

It is also clear that Egypt ranked first, with goods or services of Egyptian origin accounting for 34.1% of the total accepted purchase requests. The United Arab Emirates accounted for 6.8%, ranking third in January 2023, while goods and services of Chinese origin recorded a rate of 6.1%, and those of Tunisian origin recorded a rate of 6.06%.

The number of private sector companies and factories whose requests for foreign exchange to cover documentary credits and other transfers were approved reached 173 companies and 3 factories during January 2023, as banks’ requests to purchase foreign exchange by the private sector to import raw materials ranked first in total purchase requests. During January 2023, it accounted for 14.9% of the total foreign exchange purchase requests, while requests to cover the import of production and operation requirements ranked second in terms of relative importance, constituting about 8.7%, while requests to cover the import of iron ribs constituted 5.2% and harvesting machines 5.1% of the total, the following table shows purchase requests for the fifty most important goods or services during January 2023.

It should be noted that the United Arab Emirates is the country beneficiary of transfer requests by 99% of the total requests and that the origin of goods or services is Egyptian by 34.1% and Turkish by 32.1% of the total.

The number of public sector companies whose requests for foreign exchange to cover documentary credits and other transfers were approved reached 5 companies during January 2023, namely: (The General Electricity Company, Libya Insurance Company, Libya Telecom and Technology Company, Libyana Mobile Phone Company and Al-Madar Al-Jadeed Company).