By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 14 November 2017:
Central Bank (CBL) governor Saddek Elkaber has blamed the government for the scarcity of goods, their high prices and the decline of the Libyan dinar’s value.
Since June this year, said Elkaber, the power to open documentary credits, necessary to fund imports, had been moved from the CBL to the economy ministry.
The fact that these credits had now been suspended therefore had nothing to do with the CBL, the governor told journalists called today to the ornate main hall of the bank’s headquarters in Tripoli.
Elkaber bemoaned the Presidency Council’s (PC) decision to discontinue the issuance of documentary credits which he said, directly affected the scarcity of goods and the high exchange rates in the parallel market.
Before the meeting, there had been speculation that the governor would be talking about the falling value of the dinar. He has until now opposed moves to devalue or allow the floating of the dinar against foreign currencies.
However, just as this April, when he last summoned the media for a meeting, Elkaber proffered no solutions but continued to be deeply critical of the PC’s economic and financial management.
