After years of strangling its own economy with currency restrictions, Libya's Central Bank has apparently decided to let private exchange companies back into the game. Licensed currency dealers can now sell foreign cash to the public again. There's a catch, naturally—they can only mark up prices by 7% over the official rate.
Libya's Central Bank lifts currency restrictions but caps private dealers at 7% markup over official rates.
The Central Bank isn't just throwing the doors open and hoping for the best. They're conducting routine field inspections to make sure everyone plays nice. Step out of line and you're looking at sanctions under Law No. 1 of 2005. That could mean losing your license entirely.
This policy reversal comes after the government basically choked off foreign currency access due to spending pressures and failed attempts at budget unification. The dinar took a beating in April 2025, losing about 15% against the dollar. By then, the gap between official rates and black market prices had stretched to 17%. Not great.
Libya has been throwing various solutions at the wall. They slapped a 27% tax on foreign exchange transactions in March 2024, then dialed it back to 15% by November.
Meanwhile, businesses were gasping for air. From January to August 2025, roughly 2,191 private firms and factories got approved for letters of credit and currency transfers. Production supplies and food commodities dominated the requests—24.5% and 21.6% respectively.
Companies like Waad Libyan Cement and Toyota Libya were among the biggest applicants. Makes sense. Can't build or sell cars without foreign currency.
The Central Bank's gamble here is obvious: give people legitimate access to foreign currency and maybe they'll stop using the black market. The regulator is banking on transparency and consumer protection to rebuild trust. They're also pushing electronic payment systems and digital banking initiatives as part of a broader modernization push. The directive was issued by Abdelmajid Mohamed Al-Maqouri, who heads the Banking and Currency Supervision Department. Governor Naji Issa recently held an expanded meeting with commercial bank executives to review the monetary and banking plans supporting these reforms.
Previous restrictions created serious liquidity problems for businesses. Now the government is gradually relaxing capital controls in favor of something resembling market-oriented mechanisms. Whether this actually stabilizes the dinar or just shifts the dysfunction elsewhere remains to be seen. But for now, private firms can breathe a little easier.
