The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has instructed commercial banks to implement the Speaker of the House of Representatives’ Resolution (15) of 2024 to temporarily impose a tax on the foreign currency exchange rate.
This implementation order came in a letter from the Deputy Director of the Banking and Monetary Control Department for Office Supervision Affairs of the CBL to the general directors of the commercial banks.
The letter called for facilitating the procedures for purchasing foreign currencies, including opening letters of credit for all purposes, goods, services, and personal transactions in accordance with the instructions issued by the Central Bank of Libya.
The CBL’s letter ordered clients to submit a signed acknowledgment paper in which they pledge their acceptance of the price plus the tax.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aqila Saleh, issued last week a decision to impose a 27% tax on the official exchange rate of foreign currencies.
This came after the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir, had proposed adjusting the exchange rate of the Libyan dinar against foreign currencies, and imposing a 27% tax on foreign exchange, expecting the exchange rate to range between 5.95 and 6.15 dinars per dollar.
The Libyan Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, said on Monday that the Libyan economic situation was very good and did not need any extraordinary measures, referring to the measures that the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) was taking, especially imposing a 27% tax on the foreign currency exchange rate.
