Libya's central bank faces pressure to float currency

TRIPOLI, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of Libya's Central Bank said on Wednesday that political figures and parties are pressuring the Central Bank to float the local currency.

"A number of political parties and officials are continuously pressuring the Central Bank to float the dinar, in order to reduce inflation and high foreign exchange rates in parallel market," the official told Xinhua.

But the official, on condition of anonymity, warned that the floating decision cannot be made "without the unification of the banking institution," in addition to "the legislation and an integrated plan by the legislative authority in cooperation with bankers and financial experts."

The official, however, did not identify the political figures or entities pressing the bank to take such action.

Following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya has been suffering economic crisis with a sharp decrease of oil revenues, the country's main source of income, as a lot of oil fields and ports have been closed because of armed conflict.

Libya's foreign exchange reserves have been shrinking over the past four years. The country has suffered losses of more than 140 billion U.S. dollars after years of closure of oil fields and ports.

Libya has also suffered political division between eastern and western authorities, including the Central Bank. Enditem