Rival central bank branches in Libya come together
After Ten Years of Separation
Libya's central bank revealed on Sunday that its long-separated branches in the western and eastern regions are reuniting after almost ten years of division. The North African nation has been politically fragmented, with Abdelhamid Dbeibah's UN-backed government in the west and a rival administration in the east supported by military leader Khalifa Haftar. Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has experienced 12 years of intermittent conflict.
In a joint statement issued by the governor and deputy governor, the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) announced that it has "once again become a unified sovereign institution." The bank had been divided since 2014, with internationally recognized headquarters in Tripoli and another in Bayda under Haftar's control in the east.
Al-Seddik al-Kebir, the governor of the Tripoli-based bank, and Marii Moftah Rahil, the governor of the rival eastern branch, announced a meeting attended by consultants and directors from both branches. The statement expressed the commitment to "continue efforts to overcome the consequences of the division."
"This is an important step towards improving the performance of this sovereign institution," Dbeibah posted on Facebook on Sunday, reaffirming his government's commitment to "strengthening transparency and information procedures".
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed hope that the CBL's reunification would catalyse unifying all of the country's political, security, and military institutions. The US embassy in Libya welcomed the move as a "show of unity," setting an important example for reconciliation across all state institutions.
The process of reunifying the central bank commenced in December 2021 to address the power struggles between rival factions, impacting not only the bank but also other state institutions. As part of the reunification process, Rahil assumed the role of deputy governor and visited Tripoli for the first time since being appointed head of the Bayda branch by the eastern government's parliament in November 2022. The Tripoli-based CBL plays a crucial role in overseeing Libya's substantial oil revenues, given the nation's status as having the most abundant oil reserves in Africa. The financial institution is responsible for allocating funds among state and government entities. In a significant development in July 2022, the United Nations finalized the process to launch an independent international audit of the two branches, seen as a pivotal step toward reunification. The existence of two competing branches has hindered the implementation of a cohesive monetary policy, contributing to the sharp decline of the Libyan dinar since the 2011 uprising.
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