The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir said Libya needs to increase oil production by 40% to cover expenditure and revamp economy, adding that Libya’s gold reserves stand at 116.6 tons.
Al-Kabir told Bloomberg that Libyan oil production should be boosted to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2022, saying the CBL is working with the National Oil Corporation and will use the surplus of the budget, if oil prices are stable, to upgrade the oil facilities in the country.
He also said he is committed to unifying the CBL after the international auditing is complete and is now discussing proposals to that end, adding that Coronavirus pandemic has impacted the Libyan economy.
“After unifying the currency exchange rate in last January, Libyans and companies became more secure regarding the dinar. Libya won’t get funds from abroad neither in the short nor in the medium terms.” He said, adding that Libya’s domestic debt is very hazardous and stands at 270% of the Gross domestic product (GDP) and that the CBL is working to allow creditors to continue to pour in cash on a daily basis.
Bloomberg said the CBL expects oil revenue to reach 25 billion dollars this year amid the relative calm after the ceasefire in Libya, adding that this would be massively huge increase from the 3.6 billion dollars in 2020, when the offensive on Tripoli blocked oil production and shut many facilities.
