After ten years of conflict, Libya’s Central Bank reunifies as a single entity

• The Central Bank of Libya has successfully reunited its western and eastern branches.
• The reunification of the Central Bank of Libya is seen as a symbol of unity in a country divided between the military-led government of Khalifa Haftar in the east and the UN-backed administration of Abdelhamid Dbeibah in the west. 
• After being split in 2014 due to political divisions, the central bank's reunification brings hope for further reconciliation across all state institutions. 

After nearly ten years of civil conflict, the Central Bank of Libya has once again been united as a single sovereign institution, according to its governor. Following a meeting with Deputy Governor Mari Muftah Rahil and department heads from both the Tripoli and Benghazi branches, Governor Sadiq al-Kabir made the declaration at the bank's headquarters in Tripoli.

This is a crucial milestone in enhancing the performance of this vital sovereign institution, as we remain committed to integration and bolstering transparency and disclosure measures adopted by our government, Prime Minister Abdulhamid AlDabaiba said on X.

The bank has foreign deposits and yearly oil earnings in the billions of dollars. It fractured in 2014 along the wider political fault lines of the nation. The bank's globally renowned headquarters are still located in Tripoli, but an eastern branch collaborating with the strong military leader Khalifa Hifter was established in Benghazi.

Currently, the country is divided between Khalifa Haftar's military strongman government in the east and Abdelhamid Dbeibah's UN-backed administration in the west.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a statement it hopes the CBL's reunification will create momentum towards unifying all the country's political, security and military institutions as the people of Libya have long yearned for.

The US embassy in Libya also welcomed the move which it called a show of unity that sets an important example for reconciliation across all state institutions. We encourage CBL leadership to follow... with concrete measures toward full integration of financial and oversight systems, including by activating the CBL board, the embassy said on X.

Since 2014, the central bank of Libya has been split between its western and eastern branches due to the emergence of a parallel government in the east after the nation split following a civil war. Oil-rich Libya descended into chaos after the NATO-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011

As part of a peace process following a truce, the central bank declared its intention to proceed toward reunification in January 2020 and appointed the professional services company Deloitte to assist with the transition.

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