The banking expert, Omran Al-Shaibi, explained in a statement to our source regarding the reasons for the rise in the official dollar exchange rate in the Central Bank of Libya that the exchange rate of the dinar against foreign currencies is not linked to the dollar only, but to the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights, which encompasses five currencies, the US dollar and the Euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, the British pound sterling and each currency has a certain percentage in this group.
He added that the increase in demand for any of these currencies, such as what is happening to the dollar these days as a result of raising the interest rate for US Treasury bonds, will lead to an increase in the exchange rate of the dollar against other currencies. “On the other hand, if we look at the prices of the euro and the pound sterling against the dinar, we will find that their exchange rate has become close to or even lower than the exchange rate of the dollar, because the exchange rate of the dinar is linked to this basket and not to the dollar.” He indicated that the exchange rate is expected to increase to 5.10 against the dollar in the coming months as the euro will fall below 90 US cents and the Sterling may fall to be the same price as the dollar.
The official dollar exchange rate at the Central Bank of Libya witnessed a significant increase, reaching more than 5.08 dinars per dollar, after it recorded at the beginning of this year a price of 4.60 dinars, while its price did not exceed at the beginning of the year 2021 about 4.46 dinars after the decision of the Central Bank’s board of directors was taken to amend the price from 1.40 to 4.48 on December, 16th, 2020.