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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 25 May 2017:
The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has reported that it has distributed a total of US$ 304 million in batches of US$ 400 per person up to 23 May since it launched the operation in February.
This is part of the CBL’s efforts to make hard currency available on a more equitable basis to Libyan citizens at the official exchange rate of LD 1.4 to the dollar. The current black market exchange rate is around the LD 8 per dollar. The CBL, due to the fall in oil production and the price of international crude oil prices is unable to meet the market demand for hard currency. Libya is operating a budget deficit.
The privately-owned Aman bank conducted the most transactions with 58,900 operations out of the 17 Libyan banks involved in distributing the allowance. The largest Libyan state-owned bank, Jumhuriya, bank was second with 40,871 transactions out of a grand total of 138,807 transactions carried out by all 17 banks up to 23 May.
