Al-Agha: Turkish Central Bank Told Kabir that Libyan Balances Cannot Be Used Until All Debts Are Settled  

The head of the liquidity department of the Libyan Central Bank, Al-Bayda Branch, Ramzi Al-Agha revealed that the Turkish Central Bank informed the Governor of the Central Bank in Tripoli, Siddik al-Kabir, that the Libyan funds deposited in Turkish banks could not be used until the settlement of all Libyan debts to Turkey are completed, including the cost of arms purchases, the treatment of the wounded, and the costs of transporting soldiers.

[Libya, 21 April 2020] – In exclusive statements to the “Erm News” website yesterday on Monday, Al-Agha said that in addition to these financial costs, there are compensatory rulings issued by Turkish courts in favour of Turkish companies that were contracted by the Libyan state. Most of these were contracted during the regime of the late ruler Muammar Gaddafi and stopped shortly after the 17 February revolution.

In this regard, he explained that this action was due to the deteriorating economic situation in Turkey and the possibility of a major collapse of the Turkish lira, especially after tourism revenues were interrupted due to the novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19.)

He pointed out that the freezing of Libyan balances in the Turkish Central Bank does not include approximately US$4 billion that Siddik al-Kabir deposited with zero interest a few months ago to support the collapsingTurkish economy, and which cannot be returned for at least 4 years.

Al-Agha stated that the Libyan Central Bank has foreign exchange reserves in excess of US$80 billion, a large part of which was transferred to Turkish banks lately and has become inaccessible according to the decision issued by the Turkish Central Bank.

The head of the liquidity department at the Libyan Central Bank in Al-Bayda expected that this measure to affect the Libyan economy negatively, exacerbating the humanitarian and living conditions of Libyan ciizens as long as the Central Bank unable to use its reserves as well as lower oil prices.

© Al Marsad English (2020)