Hommam Al Nassim 
Libyan banking expert Muhammad Amer confirmed that the cash liquidity crisis in Libya will not be solved by pumping more paper currency into banks, but rather by changing the culture of cash withdrawal among citizens and moving to electronic media in daily transactions.
Amer pointed out the need to develop financial laws and prevent cash dealing with companies as a step towards eliminating cash dealing.
He stressed that the Central Bank’s pumping of paper currency is not a sustainable solution, because the money ends up in the hands of merchants and brokers who use it to feed the black market.
The expert added, according to the “Libyan Al-Anbaa” newspaper, that the transfer of monthly salaries amounting to about 60 billion dinars puts pressure on the financial system, noting that the high value of salaries requires large cash flow.
The banking expert explained that the Central Bank provides citizens with electronic currencies worth $4,000 for remittances and another $4,000 for cards, but many sell these cards to crisis merchants, which fuels the black market. He called for activating the role of oversight institutions to fight corruption and smuggling public money.
Amer pointed out that the Central Bank aims to enmedia anduse of electronic financial services to get rid of the liquidity crisis, stressing the necessity of the media’s role in educating citizens about the importance of these media, and stressing that electronic dealing will help combat money laundering and smuggling.
Amer stressed that merchants dealing illegally will face difficulty in depositing their money in banks, which will reduce smuggling operations. He added that crisis merchants are the cause of the liquidity crisis, and that the citizen contributes greatly to this crisis.
A high-level French security delegation visits Tripoli this week