The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Seddek Elkaber, and his deputy, Marai Al-Barasi, recently attended the closing session for preliminary meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Tunisia.
The meetings, which kicked off last week come in preparation for the forthcoming constellation session on Article IV scheduled for April 2024.
Elkaber expressed the bank's desire to continue working with all strategic partners, in particular the IMF, to improve the state’s monetary, economic, and financial policies while adhering to international best practices and standards.
For its part, the IMF lauded the CBL's efforts in developing its supervisory procedures and information platforms to minimize banking risks.
Despite the challenges, the CBL has successfully maintained financial stability and helped strengthen anti-money laundering and terrorist financing systems, the IMF noted.
It emphasized the importance of stabilizing and increasing oil production and exports while diversifying income sources, controlling and rationalizing public spending, and reforming fuel subsidies, as per CBL's vision.
The upcoming constellation session scheduled for next April will see the participation of the IMF expert team, the Executive Office, the Libyan Audit Bureau, the National Oil Corporation, and representatives from the ministries of finance and planning, economy and trade, labour and rehabilitation, and the Department of Statistics and Census.
