Under mounting pressure, Tripoli's Central Bank of Libya will finally be audited. CBL chief Kabir was accused by prosecutor of obstructing investigation into money laundering. The U.S. also condemned the delay as illegal, and UNSG asked UNSC to take action bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The long-delayed audit of Tripoli's Central Bank of Libya by @Deloitte will not by itself be sufficient for the Libyan Parliament, LNA, and tribes to lift the oil blockade. But transparency is a key step in the right direction. Fair distribution of oil revenue is also essential.
The audit of Tripoli's Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has been officially delayed since 2018 (in reality, it's been resisted & obstructed much longer than 2 years). Per Bloomberg the most recent delay related to the $4.8 million audit fee to @Deloitte sent to Audit Bureau for review
Long-delayed audit of Tripoli's Central Bank of Libya (CBL) rose in international importance recently after becoming a more explicit issue to resolve in order for Libyans to lift the blockade they have imposed on their own oil. (By UN mandate, CBL gets all of Libya's oil revenue)
The corrupt and opaque CBL is a longstanding issue. The trigger for the oil blockade imposed by Libyans themselves was Tripoli's GNA bringing foreign military intervention to Libyan soil from Turkey, including thousands of Syrian jihadist mercenaries.
Backed by the U.S. and UNSMIL, Tripoli's oil monopoly the National Oil Corp. (NOC) has proposed that Libya's oil revenues go to an NOC account and stay frozen for 4 months while a fair distribution mechanism is worked out.
Libyans have learned to be skeptical of frozen assets.
Libyans have learned to be skeptical of frozen assets.
Foreign diplomats involved in the negotiations complain that the LNA wants an agreement on fairly distributing Libya's oil funds now, before any lifting of the oil blockade. But the LNA position makes obvious sense. It would be foolish to let oil revenue flow to frozen accounts.
This weekend, Tripoli's NOC accused the UAE of blocking an agreement for Libyans to lift their blockade of their own oil. Echoing Libya's tribes, the UAE responded that it wants oil to flow but with safeguards against using oil revenue to further the war.
