Libya’s economy to improve by end-2018: CBL
19 November 2018: Libya’s economy will improve by the end of 2018, many years after Libya witnessed an economic crisis due to the lack of security, Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Sadik al-Kabir told 218News.
Kabir made his statement on the sidelines of the Economic Integration in the Mediterranean Symposium, organized by the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), the Banco de España and the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed – Barcelona) on Friday.
During the symposium, the governors of the Algerian and Libyan central banks and the representatives of the French and Italian central banks discussed means to raise the commercial exchange rate among the Mediterranean countries.
The Libyan economy suffered in the past years as a result of the ongoing political conflict between the warring Libyan sides, and what accompanied that from blockading oil facilities and the receding of the oil industry, on which Libya’s economy mainly depends.
Although Kabir did not clarify how the economy will improve, the authorities have recently taken measures to increase oil production.
The country has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa (47.1 billion barrels), making it the 9th largest in the world in terms of existing oil reserves.
The oil theft and the Political tension in eastern Libya – where most of the oil wealth is concentrated – affects the oil production.
However, oil production in Libya has improved in the past months as Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanalla announced in October that Libya’s current oil production exceeded 1 million bpd despite local security challenges.
Many actions have been taken to raise the production as Mellitah Oil & Gas Co raised the production of A52 Well at Wafa Field after four-month hiatus by applying the Schlumberger Coiled Tubing Velocity String technique.
Additionally, the Swiss Collombey Oil Refinery will be relocated to southern Libya under the supervision of Zallaf Libya Company for Oil & Gas Exploration and Production.
