In its latest routine statistical bulletin, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) revealed that the volume of transactions using e-payment methods increased by 186% in 2025 on the previous year.
The CBL reported that transactions for last year reached a total of LD 389 billion, compared to LD 136 billion in 2024 – an increase of 253 LD billion.
It will be recalled that this e-payments growth comes with the background of the (relatively) newly installed CBL Governor Naji Issa’s attempt to implement monetary reforms.
These include encouraging the use of e-payments by making it mandatory for all private and public revenue collectors to use e-payments, reducing the e-payments commission charged by banks and Switch companies, recalling currency (the old ‘‘triglia / Red Mullet’’ coloured LD 5 and 20 notes) by 30 September to fight the hoarding of cash at home, launching Islamic-Sharia compliant Certificates of Deposits to reduce cash in circulation, fighting speculation on the foreign exchange market by issuing licences for official FX bureaux, and defending the value of the Libyan dinar to reduce inflation, prices and the cost of living.
While the withdrawal of old denominations by the end of September 2025 prior to preparing or introducing newly printed notes has exacerbated the continuing cash crisis and depressed the market, it has forced the increased use of e-banking and e-payments.
However, since there are specific sectors that are still not linked to the banking sector and the e-banking flow of money, the crisis has simply depressed demand and commerce as the whole system is not functioning as a single unit.
Deliveries of newly printed cash has continued to arrive up to this week. If, as promised, the CBL does replace the all the withdrawn cash soon, this market depression may be a temporary blip in trade. But if the replacement cash takes months to arrive, the depressed trade could turn to a more serious collapse in the Libyan market.
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