The Central Bank of Libya (BCL) has declared a US$ 7.3 billion shortfall in foreign receipts for the duration January-October
2020 as a result of a blockade imposed by the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar on the country’s oil fields.
The deficit was covered, according to the BCL,
by withdrawals from the bank’s foreign exchange reserves.
Out of more than 1.2 million barrels of daily production, the blockade decreased oil
production by 800,000 barrels a day and robbed the state of its main revenue stream.
The CBL reported in a report on revenue and expenditure published
on Friday for the duration from 1 January to 30 October that “total foreign exchange revenues reached US$ 3.8 billion including US$ 2.051 billion for oil exports in 2019”.
During the same period, direct losses from the cessation of oil production and exports amounted to
approximately US$ 11 billion, while total oil revenues amounted to US$ 5,271 billion (approximately US$ 3,819 billion).
After an agreement between the Government of the National Accord and the Libyan National Army
to restore production after an interruption of approximately nine months, Libyan oil exports resumed in September.
According to Mustapha Sanalla, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC), the resumption permitted ‘a rapid return to the previous
production average of 1,250 million barrels per day which is roughly the same level of production achieved by the Company and its affiliates prior to the closure.’
SOURCE: NNN
