In a widely leaked Central Bank of Libya (CBL) circular published Monday (14 July) on Libyan Arabic media sites, the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Naji Issa, instructed the Ministers of Health, Transport, Education and Higher Education to instruct all their affiliated bodies, including airlines, clinics, hospitals, universities, institutes and schools, to receive payment for all their services to citizens through e-payments.
The CBL circular stipulated that this will be effective as of the first of August this year.
In its circular, the CBL said e-payments via POS would help citizens on the one hand (from the need to have access to cash) and saves government entities the problems of dealing with liquid cash.
Part of the CBL’s wider reform effort
The CBL’s move is part of its wider efforts to solve the cash crisis at banks, reduce cash hoarded outside the banking system, reduce the grey/black economy and reduce demand for hard currency on the parallel/black-market to protect the exchange value of the under-pressure Libyan dinar.
