The Chairman of the General Libyan Union of Chambers of of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (GLUCCIA), Mohamed Al-Raeid said the Libyan factories would likely close down as there are no sufficient raw materials and work equipment as no letters of credit by the Central Bank of Libya were granted to any of the factories for six months now.
“The measures asked of the exporting firms adopted by the CBL for granting the letters of credit made them reject dealing with Libyan companies, besides the letters of credit saw 50% of application on the ground only.” Added Al-Raeid, saying the Presidential Council of the UN-proposed government and the CBL are very understanding regarding the necessity of modifying those measures.
Likewise, the Chairman of Libyan Businessmen Council, Abdullah Al-Fallah also stated that the money assigned to import the raw materials for the factories is not enough, calling for granting letters of credit all year round knowing that some factories had to buy foreign currency from the black market so they can import the materials they need.
AL-Fallah also added that the obstacles put out by the CBL led to the delay of the arrival of some goods from abroad, pointing out that there are some goods coming from Asia and will take a longer time to arrive in Libya and that the duration of opening new letters of credit is short, but the maladministration of the CBL makes it a lot longer.
Moreover, the Director of Investment Administration at the Libyan Privatization and Investment Board, Jamal Al-Sawasi said 65% of the investment projects have stopped, stressing that some of the investors run away from Libya due to calls by their countries to depart Libya over the current conflict and lack of security in the country.
He added that the investment projects in Libya amount to 232 ones in industry, tourism, and real estates and are worth 4.6 billion dinars, pinpointing that the ones underway are 180 worth 26.9 billion dinars in addition to 194 projects that are under construction and will cost 43.2 billion dinars.
