Another Oil Producer Under Pressure to Devalue Its Currency
- Libya’s Serraj has failed to overhaul economy, heal rifts
- Dinar slump adds to crises facing stumbling unity government
The currency crisis is undermining Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj’s efforts to unite a country fractured by five years of conflict following the 2011 ouster of Muammar al-Qaddafi.
Photographer: Abdullah Doma/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Libya’s UN-backed government is under mounting pressure to devalue its currency, joining other energy producers from Nigeria to Kazakhstan that have buckled in the face of tumbling revenue and domestic turmoil.
The dinar has been steadily weakening on the black market over the past year as the nation’s political rifts thwarted a recovery in oil output. It hit a record low of 7 to the dollar this week, according to currency dealers in Tripoli. The official rate is 1.4.