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Salame meets CBL’s leaders to review previous financial performances

High-level meeting gathered head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Ghassan Salame, governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) in Tripoli Saddek El-Kaber, and governor of the parallel CBL in El-Bayda Ali El-Habri on Wednesday.

Sources told 218 that they agreed during the meeting to review both of Libya’s central banks’ general budgets, public debt, foreign-exchange reserves, and credits granted for imports for the recent years. The sources added the review will be supervised by three working groups, including advisory council, technical committee, and financial review team.

Advisory Council

It will consist of five or seven members, including representatives of El-Kaber and El-Habri, Salame, and a number of international and local experts.

Technical Committee

The committee will be composed of representatives of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), who will be supporting audits and following operations. The committee will also include a delegate from the World Bank and another from the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA).

Review Team

The team will be selected through a committee including representatives of the CBL in Tripoli and El-Bayda, and the UN mission in Libya.

Salame previously met with El-Habri and El-Kaber in August upon the invitation of UNSMIL to discuss the audit of both banks’ activities since the 2011 revolution by an independent international audit team.

The CBL was split into two rival branches, following a sharp political dispute in the country in 2014, resulting in the dismissal of El-Kaber by the House of Representatives and the appointment of El-Habri as his successor.

In September, the CBL in El-Bayda held its first meeting since 2014 in Benghazi. They invited El-Kaber but he did not attend the meeting.

After the division of the CBL’s board, the value of Libyan dinar fell to its lowest level reaching 9,500 dinars against dollar in the fourth quarter of 2017.

In July, head of the Presidential Council of the GNA Fayez Sarraj called for the urgent formation of an ‘‘international technical committee’’ to review and audit the expenses, revenues, and transactions of both of Libya’s Central Banks in Tripoli and El-Bayda.

The call by Sarraj was seen as an attempt to satisfy Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander Khalifa Hafter in response to his accusation that the Tripoli CBL was financing terrorists.

Since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster, Libya has spiraled into civil war between several parties competing for the power causing divisions inside the national army.

There have been two major factions on the ground since 2014; one led by Haftar, who now controls the eastern side of Libya in cooperation with the Tobruk parliament. The other is led by Sarraj in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups took advantage of the conflict and established a foothold in the country, posing threats to Libya’s neighbors.

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