Libyans Ditch Dollars as Oil Recovery Offers Economic Relief
- Dinar rises on black market as central bank eases restrictions
- Importers say crippling backlog in letters of credit is easing
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Libya’s powerful black market traders are encountering an unfamiliar sight: people showing up with bundles of dollars for sale.
Rising oil prices have relieved financial pressure on Libya, allowing authorities to channel more dollars to importers since the start of the year. Meanwhile, the central bank has eased restrictions on currency transfers that had made the black market the primary supplier of hard currency, fueling record inflation and impoverishing wage-earners already struggling since the 2011 NATO-backed rebellion.