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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 15 May 2014:
Libya has become a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with a . . .[restrict]view to becoming an EBRD recipient country, which would enable Libya to benefit from the Bank’s investment programmes, the EBRD and Central Bank of Libya (CBL) confirmed this morning.
The EBRD Board of Governors approved Libya’s membership today during the Bank’s Annual Meeting held in Poland between14-15 May. The CBL’s Governor, Saddek El-Kaber was present at the meeting in Poland and had confirmed the news to Libya Herald during the recent IMF conference in Amman, Jordan.
Any decision to grant recipient country status to Libya will be taken separately following a thorough assessment by the EBRD of the political, economic and operational environment in the country, the EBRD explained.
In 2013, Libya’s authorities sought EBRD membership, saying that the Bank’s support would play an important role in helping the country implement programmes of economic reform and would contribute to its economic growth.
The request followed the decision by the Bank’s shareholders to extend the EBRD’s remit to the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) following a wave of political change that began in the region in 2011.
Since 2012, the Bank has invested in four SEMED countries –Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia. To date, the EBRD has invested €871 million in 34 projects across various sectors in the SEMED region.
The CBL has been keen to stress that joining the EBRD was as much about having access to the knowhow and expertise of the body, as for gaining access to finances. The EBRD offers technical support for states experiencing transition in their economies and state that are going through the stage of building or establishing an infrastructure, the CBL said.
The EBRD also helps with establishing standards on governance, fighting and preventing corruption and with sustainable development projects. The CBL added that joining the organization was as much about “getting out of the international isolation imposed by the previous regime”.
Libya will participate in the EBRD with a shareholding of 986 shares at a cost of Euro 1.7 million. There will be a return on this contribution which remains the property of the Libyan people, the CBL explained. [/restrict]
