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The Libyan Investment Authority to help parts get through the coronavirus pandemic

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The Libyan Investment Authority, Tripoli, has made recommendations to help parts of its investment portfolio get through the remainder of the coronavirus pandemic.

The sovereign wealth fund, which has $60 billion in assets according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, recently completed a series of stress and liquidity tests to assess the potential impact of COVID-19 on its portfolio.

Executives at the fund worked with strategic adviser Oliver Wyman and financial adviser Deloitte to conduct a benchmarking analysis. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the LIA was compared with that of other sovereign wealth funds, it said in a news release Tuesday.

Following the analysis, the LIA and its advisers then “undertook a comprehensive portfolio liquidity assessment, with the primary intention of better understanding the impact of COVID-19 on its operating subsidiaries,” the release said. This assessment focused in particular on hospitality and oil and gas portfolio companies.

The in-depth assessment identified 18 “priority assets” that needed further liquidity assessments, evaluating the impact of COVID-19 over the short term, to September; over the near term, to December; and over the medium term, to April 2021. This series of studies resulted in “tailored recommendations for each subsidiary as to how best to operate through the remainder of the COVID-19 restrictions,” the LIA said.

Among the recommendations are calls for improvements to working capital, cost reduction, debt restructuring, short-term liquidity management and recapitalization.

“The recommendations detailed in the study are now being implemented by our subsidiary management teams,” Ali Mahmoud Hassan Mohamed, chairman of the LIA, said in the release. “The LIA’s leadership team will closely monitor these actions in the coming months ahead.”

The study and communication of it are part of LIA’s “comprehensive transformation program,” working to bring it in line with best-in-class sovereign wealth funds, the release said.

The Libyan Oil Won’t Stand For Further Losses

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Libya has at least 46 billion barrels of sweet crude oil; this oil is highly valued for Europe because of the low costs to extract and transport it (…) Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has stopped oil exports since January; from about 1.10 million barrels per day, Libyan oil production fell to nearly 70,000 barrels per day, CounterPunch magazine reported on Wednesday.

According to the magazine, neither Haftar nor the Government of National Accord in Tripoli can agree on the export of oil from the country. Oil has not left the country for the better part of the past six months, with a loss—according to the NOC—of about US$6.74 billion. General Haftar controls major oil ports in the east, including Es Sider, and several key oil fields, including Sharara.

Neither side wants the other to profit from oil sales; no one is willing to compromise, since any such agreement would mean a de jure partition of the country into its eastern and western halves with the oil crescent divided between the two.

The Central Bank of Libya to launch development projects

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The economist Mokhtar Al-Jadid said the Central Bank of Libya is considering the possibility of selling the dollar at 3.70, in addition to launching development projects under the supervision of the bank by relying on the private sector.

On Wednesday, Al-Jadid was one of the participants in a meeting chaired by the governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Siddik Al-Kabir, and also attended by a group of experts and academics in the fields of economy and finance.

The economist said that the open-dialogue session covered the possibility of restoring the monetary balance and the possibility of selling the dollar at 3.70 through former mechanisms just after resuming oil production.

The Presidential Council to financially support government agencies

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During a meeting chaired by the Vice-President of the PC, Ahmed Maiteeq and also attended by the Deputy Chairman of the PC, Abdulsalam Kajman along with Council members, Mohamed Ammari and Ahmed Hamza, the Presidential Council (PC) of the Government of National Accord (GNA), on Tuesday, discussed the possibility of supporting various government agencies through the emergency budget for the 2020 financial year.

The Libyan Education Ministry releases “Let’s learn” app

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The Ministry of Education has launched “Let’s learn” application on Android mobile phones.

The ministry said that the application allows students to access their lessons with videos and guiding questions.

It explained that the application is free of charge, adding that the developers at the Ministry’s Information and Documentation Center are working for its upgrade.

The ministry noted that the iOS version of the app will soon be released and that the second Android version is due to be released during the next few days with new updates.

IOM: over 400,000 Libyans internally displaced because of armed conflict

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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday that there are more than 400,000 internally displaced Libyans because of armed conflict.

“Over 400,000 Libyans are still internally displaced. More than half of them have been forced to leave their homes over the past year,” IOM tweeted.

The IOM also said it has completed a four-day distribution of humanitarian items to the displaced in Sirte, reaching more than 5,700 newly displaced Libyans.

Di Maio calls for resuming oil operations in Libya

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 Italy’s Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, on Wednesday, called for resuming oil production and export in Libya “as soon as possible,” according to Italian news agency Aki.

The Italian diplomat also stressed that “sustainable stability in Libya remains an absolute priority for the Italian government,” pointing out that this has an impact on “the security and stability of the entire Euro-Mediterranean region.”

Di Maio’s remarks came after Italy hosted an international meeting on Tuesday to discuss the continued closure of Libyan oil fields.

International meeting on Libya’s closed oil fields

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 A meeting on the Libyan crisis was held on Tuesday with the participation of officials from Germany, Italy and France and their counterparts from the United States, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to the Acting Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephanie Williams, Italian news agency Aki reported on Wednesday.

Citing diplomatic sources, Aki said that the “technical” meeting took place on an Italian initiative and mainly focused on the issue of the continued closure of Libyan oil fields. The Chairman of the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mustafa Sanalla, took part in this meeting, said Aki.

The meeting reviewed the security, economic and political aspects of the Libyan crisis, of which the latest developments were discussed.

Germany warns Turkey on Mediterranean drilling

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Turkey must stop drilling for natural resources in waters in the eastern Mediterranean if there is to be progress in EU-Turkey ties, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week that Turkey would start seismic research and drilling operations in contested waters that are covered by an agreement between Ankara and Libya’s internationally recognised government.

The Libyan Customs Authority to activate the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note

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Libya’s Ministry of Finance announced on Monday that its Customs Authority is in the process of activating the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) system in order to manage and control shipments to Libya.

The Ministry stressed that the system is really effective in tightening control over imports.

It also said the system contributes to the control of toxins and prohibited goods and provides more effective customs control.

According to the Ministry’s announcement, the system helps combat corruption and allows the government to know the status and contents of all imported goods.

It added that the system tracks and follows up on imported goods electronically to provide advance information about them, such as type, quantity, or source of goods, to combat forgery in documents attached to the customs declaration.