The Tripoli based Ministry of Economy and Trade announced yesterday that it had requested that the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) suspend 85 import companies for failing to import any cooking oil with the US$ 130 million worth of letters of credit they were granted in 2025
– The Economy Ministry has instructed the Commercial Registry not to issue registration certificates to violating suppliers and to refer them to the Municipal Guard to complete the investigation reports.
– Only 36 companies have met the local market’s needs for 2025, and their products are available to consumers.
Part of a wider effort to reform the economy
The move comes as part of a wider concerted effort by the Tripoli government, the CBL and the Audit Bureau to:
- Curb LC fraud
- Curb the exploitation of the country’s finite foreign currency reserves – Libya has been running a hard currency deficit for several years
- Defend the value of the faltering Libyan dinar on the black-market
- Reduce prices and imported inflation
- Maintain Libyan’s standards of living.
This is especially the case with the high consumption fasting month of Ramadan starting in about two weeks
