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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 28 April 204:
The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Saddek Elkaber, has called for . . .[restrict]a public hearing to defend himself after the Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni accused him in a TV interview of arbitrarily blocking money to the government and acting despotically.
On Al-Nabaa TV, Thinni said amongst other things that Elkaber “acts as the ruler of Libya and does whatever he wants”. He accused the bank governor of exceeding his powers and refusing to release funds approved by Congress.
There has been growing criticism by ministers and government officials that the Central Bank has been acting politically in recent months, holding up payments for contracts for ideological rather than financial reasons. The bank’s supporters, however, claim that the bank has had to take tough decisions to protect the country’s funds at a time income has been slashed because of the oil terminals blockade.
Appointed as governor in late 2011 by Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, Elkaber – who is also chairman of one of the largest banks in the Middle East, the Libyan-controlled Arab Banking Corporation – has faced and survived criticism before. Last July, the GNC announced that it intended to appoint a new governor, triggering speculation that Elkaber was being removed. But nothing came of it.
This is, however, the most serious attack on him so far. [/restrict]
