An international audit of Libya’s two parallel central bank branches will recommend steps on Thursday that could lead to their eventual reunification, two sources familiar with the matter said.
According to Reuters, the United Nations last year finalised a contract with international accounting firm Deloitte to handle the audit of the institutions, which have been split in the wake of Libya’s division since 2014.
The results of the audit would be “pretty positive” and would be the first step towards the bank’s reunification, with recommended steps for the completion of the process expected to be laid out, said one person close to the Libyan government and briefed about the report on Wednesday.
In a short statement released late on Wednesday, Government of National Unity prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said that he had received a copy of the audit from the U.N. special envoy to Libya Jan Kubis.
He said it made clear that “unifying the central bank is a goal that must be achieved as soon as possible.”
Libya is divided between a government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east that has set up its own institutions. Peacemaking efforts have followed both political and economic lines, aimed at bolstering the GNU and resolving disputes over the country’s resources, income and debt.
In addition to providing a boost to the government, any reunification of the central bank is expected to help improve confidence among buyers of Libyan oil at a time when prices of the country’s main export are rising.
Oil revenue has flowed through the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya, which has paid the salaries of many state employees across front lines. The parallel one is based in Bayda in eastern Libya.
Libya’s oil exports were hit by a blockade by eastern-based forces last year, leading to lost revenues.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.