Libyan president recommends banning circulation of counterfeit currency printed to Haftar in Russia

Mahmoud Mohamed-Tripoli

The President of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, Fayez Al-Sarraj, the Governor of the Central Bank, called for confronting the "counterfeit" currency printed in Russia and preventing its printing and issuance pursuant to the provisions of Article 5 of the Banking Law of the country.

In his letter to the Governor of the Central Bank, Al-Sarraj said that the Presidential Council states that printing money outside the framework laid down by the law is a tradition of national money circulating in the country and punishable by the laws stipulated in Article 326 of the Penal Code, as well as its serious negative effects on the economy. the National.

He also warned commercial banks not to trade this currency or accept or deal with it in any way, demanding to make citizens aware of the seriousness of possession as a crime punishable by law.

The Russian customs data revealed that the parallel central government of the interim government in Beida, loyal to Haftar intensified deliveries of new banknotes from Moscow before the start of the war launched by Haftar on Tripoli so far.

Data obtained by Reuters show that about 4.5 billion Libyan dinars ($ 3.22 billion) were sent in four shipments from February to June this year, with the full print value estimated at $ 11 billion, according to press reports.

The Times of Malta said the interim government in Bayda, which is loyal to Haftar, has printed billions of dinars in Russia since 2016 to finance the wars of Haftar's forces.

Malta seized two containers of 2,000 cubic feet, full of printed currency in Russia, on its way to the parallel bank of Libya in Beida.

The parallel interim government prints eggs in the Russian company "Goznak", while the official currency is printed in the presses of the company "de la Rue".

Commercial banks and shops in Tripoli and neighboring cities in the west of the country are barred from circulating printed money in Russia.

Expected decline of the dinar
A member of the Supreme Council of State, Qasim Dabars, said that the counterfeit currency would directly affect the appreciation of foreign currencies against the dinar.

He added that Hifter relies on the printed currency in Russia to finance his wars, most recently against the capital Tripoli, where he resorted to mercenaries from Russia, Asia and Africa who are working for a fee to kill the Libyans.

He stressed in a statement to Al Jazeera Net - that the shipment of money printed in Russia, suspended in Malta will be used by Hifter in military operations and expand his loyalties and the purchase of receivables officials and leaders of some tribes in order to continue his war on Tripoli.

He considered that the step of the Presidential Council to stop that currency came late but in the right way, pointing to the need to press internationally to not allow any new payments of these funds to enter the country and punish its traders locally.

Shut down properly
Hafez al-Ghuwail, a member of the Johns Hopkins University's Institute of International Studies, said the lack of recognition of the printed currency in Russia was an economically and politically correct decision that should have been made three years ago when the parallel bank started printing banknotes in Russia.

Abizaid and "the money printed in Russia since 2016 raised the dollar prices in the parallel market because the parallel bank in Beida used this money to buy dollars on the black market, which led to raise the dollar against the dinar."

Al-Ghuwail said: politically, printing these money in the same state again deepens the political division and creates two countries with different currencies funded by their budget.

He explained that the money printed in Russia enabled Hifter to continue to build his military machine, and when he decided to attack Tripoli, he needed a lot of money to help him bear the high cost of war on the capital Tripoli.

Al-Ghuwail told Al-Jazeera Net that the Russian currency contributes to the rejection - Hifter in particular and the eastern region in general - any political solution as the availability of financial resources away from Hifter resort to political negotiation.

Repairs collapse
Economic analyst Wahid al-Jubbo confirmed that the currency printed in Russia in the billions will directly affect the economic reforms from which the Presidential Council implemented important parts.

Jubbo said it was a wrong direction and a desperate attempt without legal cover taken by officials in the east of the country for funding, but the negative effects are significant, including a deviation in monetary policy in money supply and flooding the market in the counterfeit currency, which will lead to the collapse of the purchasing power of the dinar and the rise of the dollar against it.

He also expected that the continued printing of currency in Russia to economic problems and a sharp decline of the dinar and increase prices and inflation and increase the suffering of citizens again after the stability of the dollar at about four dinars.

The solution to ending the printing of currency in Russia is to pressure the international community to stop distorting the Libyan economy by manipulating monetary policy and unifying the central bank.