Libya’s two rival legislative bodies have agreed to appoint a central bank governor in a bid to resolve a conflict that has severely impacted the country’s oil production, according to Reuters.
The House of Representatives, based in Benghazi in the east, and the High State Council, located in Tripoli in the west, reached this agreement after two days of discussions facilitated by the UN Support Mission in Libya.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, both factions committed to selecting a central bank governor and a board of directors within 30 days.
Libya’s central bank, which is responsible for managing the nation’s oil revenue and paying state salaries, has been at the center of the dispute between the east and west.
The crisis began when western factions, backed by international recognition, attempted to remove the longstanding central bank Governor Sadiq al-Kabir and install a new board. In response, eastern factions declared a halt to all oil production, which significantly disrupted the country’s stability.
Some oil production has since resumed, and oil prices dropped nearly 5% on Tuesday, reflecting market optimism that the agreement could lead to a further increase in output.
The central bank has been effectively paralysed by this power struggle, unable to carry out transactions for more than a week.
This situation underscores Libya’s deeply fractured political landscape, which has seen competing governing bodies with questionable legitimacy since the country split into eastern and western regions following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising and subsequent division in 2014.
(with inputs from Reuters)
