The Minister of Economy and Industry of Libya’s internationally recognized government, Faraj Bumtari, said during a televised interview for WTV channel and Tabadul Platform:
- “The ministry asked the Council of Ministers to intervene, especially following the intervention of the Attorney General’s office whereby we realized that the Libyan Foreign Bank was at risk.”
- “We only had 3 options; the first one was resorting to liquidation procedures, while the second option was turning to the Attorney General’s alternative and call for the appointment of a Judiciary Administrator to the bank, which could have put it at reputation risk, and hence a collapse. However, the third option was the intervention of the government based on Act 16 of 1991.”
- “Following the publication of the 2005 Act, there has been a full programme of privatization and transfer of the bank’s ownership. However, it has not been completed after the 17 February revolution.”
- “We have interfered in order to avoid the bankruptcy of the Libyan Foreign Bank that lost $1.5 billion.”
- “If a possible malfunctioning occurs in other banks, we shall undertake action and consider the options.”
- “The Central bank must reform other demands that are of crucial importance.”
- “We call for battling the parallel market, the inflation, as well as money laundering.”
- “The CBL’s governor should enact the foreign exchange oversight.”
- “The CBL reduced 2020 budget on the pretext of fighting against corruption. In fact, however, the bank deprived people of their wages.”
- “Development spending in Libya dropped significantly after 2012.”