Data issued by the Central Bank of Libya showed a noticeable decline in the use of foreign exchange during the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, as the decline amounted to more than 684 million dollars, at a rate of 7.8%.
The data indicates that the National Commercial Bank topped the list of banks selling foreign exchange at a rate of 16.6%, with a value exceeding $1.33 billion.
On the other hand, the Libyan Iron and Steel Company topped the list of government institutions that approved most purchase requests in US dollars, as the value of its purchases exceeded 195 million dollars.
As for commodities, food products witnessed the highest percentage of purchase requests by the private sector through documentary credits and transfers, at 30.9%.
According to the Central Bank data, Turkey came at the top of the list of countries that benefited most from banks’ requests to cover documentary credits and transfers to the private sector, with a percentage of 19.9% of such requests, while the UAE ranked second with 13%.
Regarding remittances, Tunisia recorded the highest value of remittances transferred by foreigners, with more than 6 million dollars being transferred to Libya’s western neighbour.
