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| Headquarters | Al Fatah Street,Tripoli |
|---|---|
| Established | 1 April 1956; 69 years ago (1 April 1956)(started operations) |
| Ownership | 100%state ownership[1] |
| Governor | Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem |
| Central bank of | Libya |
| Currency | Libyan dinar LYD (ISO 4217) |
| Reserves | 71 010 million USD[1] |
| Preceded by | Libyan Currency Committee |
| Website | cbl.gov.lyTripoli, Libya centralbankoflibya.orgAl-Bayda |
TheCentral Bank of Libya (CBL) is themonetary authority inLibya. It has the status of an autonomous corporate body. The law establishing the CBL stipulates that the objectives of thecentral bank shall be to maintain monetary stability in Libya and to promote the sustained growth of the economy in accordance with the general economic policy of the state.
The headquarters of the Central Bank are inTripoli. However, to make the CBL services more accessible to commercial banks, branches and public departments located far from the headquarters. The CBL has three branches, located inBenghazi,Sabha andSirte.
The CBL was founded in 1955 under Act no. 30 (1955) started its operations on 1 April 1956 under the name ofNational Bank of Libya,[2] to replace theLibyan Currency Commission which was established by theUnited Nations and other supervising countries in 1951 to ensure the well-being of the weak and poor Libyan economy.[3]
The bank was established in the former Savings Bank building (Italian:Cassa di Risparmio della Tripolitania), designed in 1921 byArmando Brasini and completed in the early 1930s.[4]
The Bank's name was changed toBank of Libya under Act no. 4 (1963),[2] then to its current name Central Bank of Libya after the1969 coup d'état.[citation needed]
In March 2011, the governor of CBL,Farhat Bengdara, resigned and defected to the rebelling side of theLibyan Civil War, having first arranged for the bulk of external Libyan assets to be frozen and unavailable to theGaddafi government.[5]
On 6 December 2021,Tripoli-based Governor of the CBL Sadiq al-Kabir met withBayda-based CBL governor, Ali Al-Hibri, who before the split had been Elkaber's Deputy Governor, inTunisia and agreed to start unification of the CBL.[6][7] On 20 January 2022, Elkaber and Al-Hibri signed an agreement on a four-stage unification plan, with the appointment ofDeloitte to oversee the process.[8][9] On 20 August 2023, the bank officially announced the completion of its reunification under Elkaber and his deputy in the east, Maree Raheel.[10]
On 30 August 2024, theTripoli-basedGovernment of National Unity sent armed militants to remove CBL governor Sadiq al-Kabir from his office, accusing him of "mishandling oil revenues".[11] Sadiq al-Kabir said that he had been forced to flee Libya to escape threats from armed militants, and calledAbdul Hamid Dbeibah's attempt to replace him illegal, as it breachedUnited Nations negotiated accords regarding control over the bank.[12][13] In response, theBenghazi-basedGovernment of National Stability closed down all oil fields, facilities, and terminals in protest.[14]
This is a list of governors of the Central Bank of Libya since its establishment.[3][15][16][17][18][19] The Bank saw its administration split twice, first during thefirst civil war, (February–August 2011), then from September 2014 on, as a result of thesecond civil war.
| Name | tenure start | tenure end | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ali Aneizi | 26 April 1955 | 26 March 1961 | |
| Khalil Bennani | 27 March 1961 | 1 September 1969 | |
| Kassem Sherlala | 20 September 1969 | 17 January 1981 | |
| Rajab El Misallati | 18 January 1981 | 3 March 1986 | |
| Muhammad az-Zaruq Rajab | 4 January 1987 | 6 October 1990 | |
| Abd-al-Hafid Mahmud al-Zulaytini | 7 October 1990 | 13 February 1996 | |
| Taher Al-Jehaimi | 14 February 1996 | 22 March 2001 | |
| Ahmed Menesi | 23 March 2001 | 5 March 2006 | |
| Farhat Bengdara | 6 March 2006 | 6 March 2011 | |
| Abd-al-Hafid Mahmud al-Zulaytini | 6 March 2011 | 2 April 2011 | acting |
| Muhammad az-Zaruq Rajab | 2 April 2011 | August 2011 | |
| Ahmed S. El Sharif | February 2011 | April 2011 | for theNTC (inBenghazi) |
| Kassem Azzuz | April 2011 | 12 October 2011 | for theNTC (inBenghazi to Aug. 2011) |
| Sadiq al-Kabir | 12 October 2011 | 18 August 2024 | for theGNC, laterPC since Sep. 2014 |
| Mohamed Shukri | 18 August 2024 | 26 August 2024 | appointed by the PC[20] |
| Abdel Fattah Ghafar | 26 August 2024 | 3 October 2024 | appointed by the PC as acting governor[21] |
| Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem | 3 October 2024 | Incumbent |
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)| International | |
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