quote: #Libya's central bank governor Najji Issa has submitted his resignation He was appointed in late 2024 as part of an east-west deal to end the country's last big oil blockade #OOTT | Naji Issa offered his resignation early today as governor of the #Central #Bank of Libya, a role he had held since Oct. 1, 2024. Since taking over, Issa has been the opposite of a controversial figure: almost always accommodating, careful never to collide with any of Libya’s top power brokers. What makes his throwing in the towel even more alarming is the fact that 2026 was not supposed to be a fiscally difficult year, given the Iran war. While the April 11 Unified Public Spending Framework rested on an oil price assumption of $70 a barrel, hydrocarbon prices, elevated by the Gulf crisis, will end 2026 with an average substantially above that mark. The NOC, in other words, has been collecting billions of dollars above and beyond what the Framework anticipated. If a central banker walks away in the middle of a year of plenty, it means that something underneath is badly rotten. Issa wouldn’t divulge the reason behind his decision to walk away, but a number of inferences draw themselves. First, dollar spending has, in all likelihood, slipped out of control, including in the form of fraudulent Letters of Credit. Second, Issa’s genuine attempt to harmonize, clarify and systematize public salaries through the “Your Salary Now” platform has plainly met enormous resistance, above all from the security sector, meaning the interior and defense ministries on both sides of the Libyan divide. Third, the fuel situation is most likely a full-on disaster. In Issa’s final months, the CBL had stopped funding the outsized fuel imports carried out by the NOC. Last month alone, fuel-related spending stood at roughly $1.4 billion once domestically refined fuel is counted alongside imports. The list of toxic issues affecting the CBL goes on. A cushion of unbudgeted billions is political capital, precisely what should enable a governor to say ‘No’ to the factions of the West and the East alike. But neither austerity nor saying ‘No’ has ever been Issa’s strong suit. Issa had made non-confrontation a method, especially vis-a-vis eastern Libya. In the middle of an already-agitated summer, Libya might now be left with several painful tasks, starting with replacing Issa (let’s hope no oil blockade erupts this time) and discovering the true situation pertaining to the various radioactive files (dollar deficit, wage-bill abuse, fuel aberrations, fraudulent LoCs) that likely grew in gravity until they ended up pushing Naji out of his own job. Even if both Parliament and the High State Council reject Issa’s request to step down, this news is heavy with consequences and lessons.

quote: #Libya's central bank governor Najji Issa has submitted his resignation He was appointed in late 2024 as part of an east-west deal to end the country's last big oil blockade #OOTT | Naji Issa offered his resignation early today as governor of the #Central #Bank of Libya, a role he had held since Oct. 1, 2024. Since taking over, Issa has been the opposite of a controversial figure: almost always accommodating, careful never to collide with any of Libya’s top power brokers. What makes his throwing in the towel even more alarming is the fact that 2026 was not supposed to be a fiscally difficult year, given the Iran war. While the April 11 Unified Public Spending Framework rested on an oil price assumption of $70 a barrel, hydrocarbon prices, elevated by the Gulf crisis, will end 2026 with an average substantially above that mark. The NOC, in other words, has been collecting billions of dollars above and beyond what the Framework anticipated. If a central banker walks away in the middle of a year of plenty, it means that something underneath is badly rotten. Issa wouldn’t divulge the reason behind his decision to walk away, but a number of inferences draw themselves. First, dollar spending has, in all likelihood, slipped out of control, including in the form of fraudulent Letters of Credit. Second, Issa’s genuine attempt to harmonize, clarify and systematize public salaries through the “Your Salary Now” platform has plainly met enormous resistance, above all from the security sector, meaning the interior and defense ministries on both sides of the Libyan divide. Third, the fuel situation is most likely a full-on disaster. In Issa’s final months, the CBL had stopped funding the outsized fuel imports carried out by the NOC. Last month alone, fuel-related spending stood at roughly $1.4 billion once domestically refined fuel is counted alongside imports. The list of toxic issues affecting the CBL goes on. A cushion of unbudgeted billions is political capital, precisely what should enable a governor to say ‘No’ to the factions of the West and the East alike. But neither austerity nor saying ‘No’ has ever been Issa’s strong suit. Issa had made non-confrontation a method, especially vis-a-vis eastern Libya. In the middle of an already-agitated summer, Libya might now be left with several painful tasks, starting with replacing Issa (let’s hope no oil blockade erupts this time) and discovering the true situation pertaining to the various radioactive files (dollar deficit, wage-bill abuse, fuel aberrations, fraudulent LoCs) that likely grew in gravity until they ended up pushing Naji out of his own job. Even if both Parliament and the High State Council reject Issa’s request to step down, this news is heavy with consequences and lessons.

Source:https://x.com/staunovo/status/2086839206052086117