The Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi issued a statement today, Friday, in response to what the Central Bank in Tripoli said about the discovery of forged samples of the 50 dinar banknote, stressing that the purpose of what was mentioned in the Central of Tripoli notice regarding counterfeiting currency is not to alert citizens as much as it is to agitate public opinion against the currency printed in Russia.
The Central Bank of Benghazi stated in its statement that the Libyan currency in general has very high security specifications and it is difficult to counterfeit it, with the exception of some attempting to counterfeit it using poor methods such as photocopiers and inks of poor quality, such as the many cases that were discovered to try to counterfeit various denominations “5 dinars, 10 dinars, 20 dinars, and 50 dinars.”
The statement added that the Central Bank for the first time noted the discovery of counterfeit currency, although it is a regular act of the Central Bank, and this is only justified in the event that the number of counterfeit papers is large and threatens the economic situation. However, the Central Bank of Tripoli did not mention the number of banknotes obtained, and it would have been better for it to trace the source of this currency and inform the security authorities without creating a state of panic in the market that confuses the citizen.
Benghazi Central Bank stressed in its statement that the discovery of this case of forgery proves to everyone that the specifications of the currency printed in Russia are of very high technical quality and security specifications, which makes it difficult to counterfeit, otherwise this would not have been discovered once it was detected, indicating that there are other security signs that it did not address in the report of the Issuance Department in Tripoli, which indicates that there is a lack of experience in detecting counterfeit currency, according to the statement.
The Central Bank of Benghazi asked about the source of these papers received, especially since the Central Bank of Tripoli does not receive currency in denominations of 20 and 50 dinars, whether printed in Britain or Russia. “Where did these papers come from and was their source traced according to the applicable Central Bank policy?” .
The statement revealed the discovery of forged banknotes of 10 dinars in the recent past, among the amounts that Benghazi Central Bank had previously received from Tripoli Central Bank indicating that the latter had been informed of this in order to trace its source, “and we do not know if any measures were taken in particular, with the Public Prosecutor, as happened with the 50 dinars category mentioned in Tripoli Central Bank Notice.
It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Libya in Tripoli had revealed yesterday the seizure of a counterfeit currency of 50 dinars bearing the signature of the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Ali Al-Hibri, different from the currency printed in Russia, indicating that he had submitted a communication in this regard to the Office of the Attorney General.