10/1/2024–|Last updated: 10/1/202402:39 PM (Mecca time)
The Libyan House of Representatives approved the nomination of Naji Muhammad Issa Belkacem as the new governor of the Central Bank of Libya, as part of efforts to end the crisis that led to a decline in the country’s oil production. The Council also agreed, in a session broadcast on television yesterday, Monday, to appoint Marei Raheel Al-Barassi as his deputy.
The approvals may contribute to overcoming the main political obstacles to resolving the crisis related to control of the Central Bank of Libya and oil revenues. The crisis has caused a sharp decline in the country’s oil production and exports, on which the budget depends heavily.
Belkacem previously held the position of Director of the Monetary and Banking Supervision Department at the Central Bank, while Al-Barassi was appointed Deputy Governor in 2023. They were nominated during talks recently organized by the United Nations.
Misbah Al-Douma, Second Deputy Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives, said that the 108 representatives who attended the session voted unanimously in approval immediately after reading the names of the candidates, adding that the Board of Directors of the Central Bank will be formed within 10 days.
The dispute broke out over the position of governor when the head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Muhammad Al-Manfi, took a decision to replace the governor of the Central Bank, Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir, which prompted armed factions in the east of the country to issue an order to stop the flow of oil from the fields in protest against the decision.
The National Oil Corporation said on August 28 that oil production fell by more than half its usual levels, and no new production figures have been announced since then.
Oil production in Libya has repeatedly been subject to disruptions since the chaos that resulted from the division of the country in 2014 between two administrations in the east and west, following the popular revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
According to an agreement signed on Thursday by representatives of the legislative bodies at the headquarters of the United Nations mission in Libya, the governor and his deputy will be approved within a week, provided that the Board of Directors is approved within 10 days of the approval of the governor.
The Libyan legislative bodies are the House of Representatives in Benghazi and the Supreme Council of State in Tripoli.