The Central Bank of Libya revealed in its statistical publication yesterday that the total actual foreign currency usage by banks from the beginning of January to the end of July 2026 exceeded US$ 15.987 billion.
This is an increase of nearly US$ 651 million compared to the same period in 2025 and an increase of 4.2% during the same period last year.
The Central Bank stated that letters of credit accounted for the largest share of foreign currency usage at US$ 8.3 billion, while personal foreign currency use amounted to approximately US$ 5.3 billion, in addition to US$ 2.3 billion for remittances and US$ 39 million for merchant cards.
Top ten import countries
The Central Bank of Libya has published a list of approximately 100 countries from which Libya imports goods and services via letters of credit and remittances.
The top ten were: Turkey, China, Egypt, Italy, Russia, Germany, India, Tunisia, Ukraine and France.
2,763 companies request foreign currency
According to data from the Central Bank of Libya, the number of private sector companies and factories whose requests for foreign currency through commercial banks to cover letters of credit and other transfers were approved during the period from January 1 to July 31, 2026, reached approximately 2,763.
Al-Naseem heads the list
The list of the top private sector companies and factories that applied to purchase foreign currency is headed by the Misrata-based Al-Naseem Food Industries, owned by House of Representatives member and head of the General Union of Chamber, Mohamed Raied, with over US$ 111 million.
This is followed by Africa Beverage Packaging Company with approximately US$ 83 million, and Al-Hazzaz Tourism Services and Investment Company came in third with over US$ 68 million
Political sensitivity of the distribution and use of Libya’s oil dollars
Equitable access to, the distribution and use of Libya’s oil-export generated foreign currency by the CBL at the official exchange rate is a politically sensitive topic.
There have been long-standing questions as to why some companies are granted their requests for hard currency, while others are not. There is a debate about what are Libya’s import priorities and the effect of dollar disbursement on the black-market foreign exchange rate which affects most ordinary people.
Exhausting foreign currency reserves
There are also fears that the successive interim Libyan governments since the 2011 revolution that ended the 42-year Qaddafi regime, are exhausting, rather than adding to, Libya’s hard currency reserves.
They have failed to diversify the Libyan economy and create alternative, non-hydrocarbon sources of revenues. They have even failed to expand the hydrocarbon sector.
