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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 15 July 2020:
After continuous delays over the last few years, Libya’s Forum for Banking Sector Development welcomed the accelerated moves led by UNSMIL to conduct an independent audit of Libya’s two contesting Central Banks of Libya (CBL).
The audit had originally been requested by Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli.
The private sector Forum for Banking Sector Development in Libya holds annual events to discuss and propose reform policies for the sector.
In its statement yesterday, the Forum said that an independent audit would provide a large degree of transparency and accountability, and a means to end the waste of Libya’s wealth at the expense of the development of various other vital sectors.
It said that an independent audit would contribute to unifying Libya’s monetary authorities as a precursor to fundamental reforms of the whole banking sector. This, in turn, the Forum added, would reflect positively on solving various bottlenecks faced by Libyan business and citizens, and would make the implementation of reforms more effective.
The Forum hoped that those found guilty of mismanagement or corruption and damage to Libya’s banking sector by the independent audit are held accountable and see the audit as part of the process of returning confidence in the sector, state institutions and the proposed state of rule of law.
The Forum hoped that there will be no international interference in the CBL’s audit or the audit’s results as they said this would not be in the interest of the general Libyan public. It also hoped that the new CBL board of directors will be chosen on a meritocratic basis rather than on the current regional and political basis that has emptied Libyan state institutions from capabilities and led to political wars at the expense of the Libyan people.
The Forum insisted on being part of the process of putting in place the professional criteria that will be used to select the new CBL board of directors, rather than being divided up by the current polarized political elite.
In conclusion, the Forum said that after the completion of the audit, it looks forward to a series of practical steps that guarantee and enshrine the complete independence of the CBL as a sole, unified Libyan monetary institution as a precursor to the reform and development of Libya’s economy.
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