The ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir, has denied that the CBL played any role in creating parallel government spending, stressing that this responsibility lies solely with the executive authority.
Al-Kabir reaffirmed that all payment authorizations executed by the CBL were issued by the Ministry of Finance under the Government of National Unity. His remarks came in a statement issued in response to the Presidential Council’s (PC) recent comments on Libya’s financial and monetary situation, in which the PC partly blamed the former CBL leadership for contributing to unregulated government spending.
He rejected the accusations, holding the Presidential Council fully responsible for any potential international sanctions that may be imposed on the CBL or Libyan banks following his dismissal in August last year. He also clarified that parallel spending has existed since 2015 and that the Central Bank has no knowledge of its details or funding sources. He denied allegations of directly allocating funds to either of Libya’s rival governments.
Al-Kabir questioned why the High Financial Committee—headed by the Presidential Council’s Head—had not taken action to curb parallel spending, and raised concerns about the PC's oversight of the exceptional budget allocated to the National Oil Corporation.
The Presidential Council had earlier accused the former CBL administration of facilitating “unregulated” spending, rejecting a proposal to establish emergency financial arrangements for 2021, and misusing Article 12/1 exceptions to justify overspending. It further claimed that the previous CBL leadership funded both rival governments independently of the High Financial Committee, effectively sidelining its role.
