The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the outgoing Government of National Unity denied the allegations circulating regarding fears of the bankruptcy of the state of Libya and accused the newspaper “Independent Arabia” of being biased in covering political events in the country.
The Ministry indicated in an official statement that the external media team studied the report published by the newspaper on the economic situation in Libya, which dealt with the idea of possible bankruptcy, and believed that the report contained professional fallacies and was devoid of any official statements and was based on undocumented analyzes indicating the possibility of bankruptcy.
The Ministry indicated that the report did not take into account international reports issued by major institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, which emphasize the good economic situation of Libya and its expectations of achieving strong economic growth in 2024, reaching about 8%.
The Ministry also confirmed the improvement in hard currency reserves over the past three years, as Central Bank of Libya data shows that state revenues amounted to more than 45 billion dinars by the end of June 2024, compared to expenditures estimated at 43.7 billion dinars, which indicates the presence of a financial surplus.
The Ministry reported that foreign currency revenues for the oil sector amounted to about $9.1 billion, while the public sector used only $2.374 billion, which highlights that the private sector and individuals benefit greatly through commercial banks.
The Ministry’s External Media Department confirmed its readiness to cooperate with the press to clarify any inquiries, warning of the political agendas that some parties seek to pass through media reports.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the Libyan economy witnessed a recovery in 2023, and the growth rate reached about 10%. The International Monetary Fund expected that the Libyan economy would continue to grow at a rate of about 8% in 2024, and the annual inflation rate in Libya decreased during 2023 to about 3.4. It is likely to stabilize at about 2.9% in 2024.
The Libyan ambassador to Belgium was imprisoned for 7 years on charges of embezzling public funds