New central bank governor appointed

Libya’s eastern Parliament has agreed to appoint Naji Mohamed Issa Belqasem as the new central bank governor after the former governor, Sadiq al-Kabir, was fired last month by the presidential council in the capital, Tripoli. Parliament spokesperson Abdullah Bliheg said all 108 lawmakers voted in favor of appointing Belqasem, who previously was the central bank’s director of banking and monetary control, according to an africanews report. The Parliament also appointed Mari Muftah Rahil Barrasi as his deputy. Belqasem and Barrasi are expected to form a new board of directors for the central bank within 10 days. The decision came as part of a UN-facilitated agreement between the Parliament and the High Council of State to appoint new leadership for the country’s central bank. Last month, the presidential council issued a decree to appoint Mohamed Abdul Salam al-Shukri, the former deputy governor, as a replacement for al-Kabir. The presidential council in Tripoli is allied with the Government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah that controls western Libya. However, the country’s wastern Parliament and the Supreme Council of State, an advisory body based in the capital, said removing al-Kabirwas was an illegitimate move and that such a decision should have been made in co-ordination with both bodies.

Full africanews report