The Central Bank of Libya revealed to our source exclusively that the salaries for November will be paid starting tomorrow, Wednesday, through the “Instant Salary” system.
After the launch of the “Instant Salary” system by the Central Bank of Libya and the Ministry of Finance of the Government of National Unity as a monitoring tool aimed at controlling violations and theft in the salary file and ensuring that salaries reach their rightful recipients without delay, the Central Bank’s statement for the past ten months reveals that only 3.7 billion Libyan dinars were executed through the system, compared to 51.4 billion dinars disbursed via the traditional wallets to public sector employees!
Among the entities that did not comply with disbursement through “Instant Salary” is the Administrative Control Authority, which relied entirely on the wallet system, despite being a regulatory body that is supposed to be the most committed to transparency standards. Its spending on salaries exceeded 280 million dinars, while its total expenditures reached 301.2 million dinars.
The Ministry of Economy of the Government of National Unity, headed by Mohamed Al-Huwaij, also limited its disbursement outside the system, despite its expected role in controlling markets and public spending. It recorded a direct disbursement of about 24 million dinars outside its affiliated entities, while total expenditures including affiliated entities exceeded 83 million dinars.
This behavior raises questions: How can a ministry representing the Libyan economy operate outside a monitoring system aimed at regulating spending? And what about the rest of the entities?In clear disregard for financial discipline and governmental directives, which are supposed to be strict rather than discretionary, when the Government of National Unity instructed its affiliated entities to include their salaries in the “Instant Salary” system, the Council of Ministers executed only 1.4 billion dinars through the system, compared to only 32.6 million dinars processed via the wallet system.
The violations did not stop there; data also indicates that the House of Representatives did not include its data in the “Instant Salary” system, relying instead on the wallet system for 55.5 million dinars, bringing its total expenditures to 69.1 million dinars.The Presidential Council executed only 337 thousand dinars in salaries through the system, compared to 7.5 million dinars disbursed outside it, while its total expenditures reached 47.8 million dinars.
Interestingly, the Ministry of Finance in the Government of National Unity, which is considered the main arm of this system, executed only 2.2 billion dinars via “Instant Salary,” while traditional transactions continued with 20.1 million dinars processed through the wallet system.The Ministry of Interior executed only 4 thousand dinars via the “Instant Salary” system, compared to 1 billion dinars disbursed through wallets, while the total expenditures of the ministry and its affiliated entities reached about 5.5 billion dinars. Shockingly, the Social Solidarity Authority, instead of supporting vulnerable groups, disbursed only 3.9 thousand dinars through the system, compared to 1.1 billion dinars through the wallet system, bringing its total spending over ten months of 2025 to 2.3 billion dinars, despite the difficult conditions of patients and pensioners receiving the lowest salaries.Thus, it becomes clear that the system has not achieved its goal, due to the insistence of most state institutions on continuing traditional disbursement practices, away from monitoring and oversight.
Questions remain unanswered: Who bears responsibility for this manipulation? Who benefits from the continuation of this chaos? And will these violations continue into the next year?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued on Sunday, 16 November 2025, a concluding statement for the preliminary meetings of the 2026 Article IV consultations, which were held last week with the participation of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) and relevant entities, including the Ministry of Economy and Trade, the Ministry of Planning, the National Oil Corporation, the Audit Bureau, and the Bureau of Statistics and Census.
After assessing the current state of the Libyan economy, the IMF mission experts praised the measures taken by the Central Bank of Libya, which contributed to maintaining financial stability despite recurring economic challenges.
The IMF called for supporting CBL’s ongoing efforts by ensuring the success of the “Instant Salary” initiative, which will help achieve a unified treasury account. The Fund also stressed the importance of unifying the state’s general budget and avoiding pro-cyclical fiscal policy.The mission further welcomed the steps taken by the Central Bank to accelerate economic digitalization, reduce reliance on cash, and enhance financial inclusion.Additionally, the IMF mission welcomed the Central Bank of Libya’s official accession to the Central Bank Transparency Code.
Attached is the link to the IMF mission statement following the conclusion of their visit to Libya: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2025/11/14/pr-25376-libya-imf-staff-concludes-visit
The Central Bank of Libya revealed exclusively to our source that the Operations Department at the Bank will begin disbursing October salaries tomorrow through the “Instant Salary” system.
This follows modifications made by the Ministry of Finance and the system’s subsequent return to the Central Bank for processing tomorrow.
The Central Bank of Libya revealed exclusively to our source that the disbursement of September salaries has begun today through the “Instant Salary” system, covering one million employees.
The Bank stated: “We had hoped that the Ministry of Finance would transfer all those registered in the system to facilitate the salary disbursement process; however, the matter has been postponed until October, which will be the last chance for entities to remain in the payroll system.”
It added: “We confirm the start of implementing a plan to provide liquidity through commercial banks, within the limits of citizens’ monthly needs of 3,000 dinars, while ensuring a cash reserve for the coming months and continuing to encourage the use of electronic payment methods.”
Economist Mohamed Al-Safi told our source in an exclusive statement: “Using technology to fight corruption – after the success of the ‘Instant Salary’ initiative, it is now time for the Customs Tracking System.”
He continued: “The ‘Instant Salary’ initiative introduced more organized procedures and reduced chaos in the salaries sector. It became clear how technology can play a key role in reducing corruption and enhancing administrative efficiency. In a new step, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with Customs, are working on implementing a new system known as the Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) tracking system.”
He explained: “This system aims to monitor imported goods from the moment they leave the exporting country until they enter Libya, thereby significantly limiting harmful practices such as currency smuggling and product quality manipulation. Some of the most notable illegal practices include:
He concluded: “By adopting the tracking system, we can set limits on these practices. However, I expect strong resistance from beneficiaries — just as happened previously during the tenure of Mr. Faraj Bumtari. Therefore, I hope there will be strong pressure to implement it, as is done in many countries that respect their borders and their citizens.”
Our source obtained an exclusive copy of the National Unity Government’s circular directed to ministries and affiliated entities regarding the implementation of Dbeibah’s instructions to submit employee data to the Ministry of Finance.
The circular also stresses the necessity of completing all employee data in the “Instant Salary” system, ensuring accuracy and completeness to avoid any delays.
Our source obtained a correspondence from the Central Bank of Libya to the directors of commercial banks regarding the upcoming end of August, in which the Central Bank announced its support for the “Instant Salary” project aimed at facilitating the direct transfer of government sector employees’ salaries to their beneficiaries.
The Central Bank requested that bank directors prepare the testing environment for instant payments, the national switch, and the banking system starting from the date of this letter, ensuring they remain available at all times in the coming days. The “Instant Salary” project will be tested to disburse salaries to all accounts that have been verified by the end of the working day on Thursday, August 21. The Central Bank also requested the designation of a contact point to follow up on the readiness of the testing environment and to address any issues that may arise.
Our source at the Central Bank of Libya revealed exclusively: “We have begun implementing a liquidity plan in coordination with banks to ensure a regular supply of cash throughout the year, giving special priority to salary disbursement and Eid al-Adha. We will distribute cash in a way that ensures citizens can meet their needs.”
The source added: “We had delayed the distribution of liquidity until April 30 to avoid it being exchanged for the 50-dinar note. We are also working on phasing out the old editions of the 20 and 5-dinar notes, and significantly boosting electronic payment operations.”
The Central Bank of Libya has released its report on revenues and expenditures from the beginning of 2025 until February 28, revealing total revenues of 18 billion LYD and expenditures of 8.4 billion LYD.
Revenues include 14.0 billion LYD from oil sales, 3.7 billion LYD from oil royalties, 41.1 million LYD from taxes, 12.5 million LYD from customs, 26.2 million LYD from telecommunications, and 245.8 million LYD from local fuel sales and other sources.
Expenditures include 5.9 billion LYD for salaries (for January only, as February salaries were not recorded), 35 million LYD for operating expenses, 0 LYD for development, 2.5 billion LYD for subsidies, and 0 LYD for emergency expenses.
The Central Bank of Libya revealed exclusively to our source that its Operations Department has completed the transfer of January salaries for all government sectors this evening.
Salaries will be deposited into citizens’ accounts by relevant sectors and banks, accompanied by sufficient cash availability at all bank branches to ensure continuous withdrawals without interruption.
The Central Bank Governor has instructed continued operations until all salary transfers are finalized, which was completed at 6:30 PM.
A financial official told our source that the Ministry of Finance’s directive requires employees to provide proof of owning a bank card as a mandatory condition for salary disbursement.
He stated, “The directive means that any state employee with a bank account must obtain and activate a bank card and provide its details to their workplace. This ensures that when their salary is transferred, it is immediately available in their account, allowing them to withdraw, make purchases, and use electronic payment services instead of relying on checkbooks.”
Our source has exclusively obtained a letter from the Director of Financial Controllers at the National Unity Government’s Ministry of Finance, in which the minister’s instructions were circulated.
According to these instructions, the ministry’s relevant departments and financial controllers are required to encourage individuals receiving salaries from entities funded fully or partially by the state treasury to provide proof of obtaining a bank card. Additionally, the bank card number must be a mandatory piece of information when processing salary payments.
North Africa Bank announced the introduction of a range of innovative financial products designed to enhance convenience and flexibility in daily transactions.
The bank has unveiled a new service allowing customers to access a credit limit of up to 60% of their monthly salary. This service aims to help customers meet urgent financial needs in a convenient and secure manner, with flexible terms provided.
North Africa Bank has introduced card management services for both local and international cards. These services enable customers to have full control over their bank cards, including:
The bank has also launched insurance services catering to various needs, including traveler’s insurance and mandatory insurance. These flexible insurance options are tailored to meet the requirements of both individuals and businesses, as stated by the bank.
North Africa Bank emphasized that these new services align with its mission to advance the banking sector and ensure customer satisfaction by offering innovative solutions that meet their expectations and are in line with the latest banking technologies.
The bank invited current and new customers to visit its branches or use its digital channels to benefit from these services and learn more about the details.
Engineer Masoud Shriha stated in a comment to our source regarding the cancellation of the arbitrary transfer decision, in which the ruling was issued with an enforcement clause to cancel the decision and compensate with 10,000 Libyan dinars, a ruling that has not yet been executed by the National Oil Corporation. In contrast, foreign rulings related to corruption cases, such as the case of Lukoil, the supplier of contaminated petrol, the corporation quickly moves to implement the rulings and settle the case by paying the amount of 42 million dollars.
He also said: “I firmly believe that the involved company was surprised by the speed with which they agreed to the settlement, and their willingness to accept the Libyan position is evident in the company’s waiver of 20% of the announced amount.”
Shriha mentioned that as a Libyan citizen, he is supposed to enjoy his full rights within the country. During the case, he was deprived of his basic rights, as his salary was suspended for 8 months, and the corporation delayed the payment of his dues despite the issuance of an urgent ruling to stop the execution. Some of his dues have still not been paid to this day, and the latest ruling, a final judicial ruling from Libyan courts, has not been implemented. However, a foreign judicial ruling has been executed by the oil corporation, which clearly reflects disrespect and diminishment of the Libyan judiciary, the Attorney General’s office, and the security authorities.
He questioned the role of the rule of law, good governance, and citizenship rights, which our rulers often boast about.
He also called on the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (Abdulhamid Dbeibeh), who has repeatedly spoken out against injustice, to ensure justice is served and the court ruling is enforced.
Adding that, although he had hoped for good from the Prime Minister, his observations from what he sees and hears in the media give a poor impression of how his case is being handled, and he hopes he is wrong about this.
Shriha concluded by thanking the judiciary, which was fair and just in his case, and stressed the need for strict action against anyone obstructing the execution of rulings so that the pillars of justice are fulfilled by the concerned authorities. “God is sufficient for me, and He is the best disposer of affairs for those seeking personal and foreign interests at the expense of the nation and its citizens.”
