Political sketch
Formerly Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, Fezzan, Tripoli, Libyan Arab Republic; also known as Libyan Socialist People's Jamahiriya. Independent from France and United Kingdom on 24 December 1951.
After expelling Muslim rule from Spain, the Spanish government waged war in North Africa in the early 1500s and captured Tripoli in 1510. In the early 1550s the Ottoman Empire established dominion over Libya. Its control loosened from the early 1700s when a local dynasty was established in Tripoli, but in 1835 the Ottomans reasserted control. In the interim, the local dynasty had gone to war against the United States over the sanctuary Tripoli gave to pirates who preyed on U.S. and other ships. The Sanusiyah (Sennusiyah) Islamic religious order was established in 1837 and was very influential in Libyan political life during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In 1911 Italy took advantage of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire to invade and conquer Libya. Italian conquest in the interior was not complete until 1934. By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, about 150,000 Italians had settled in Libya. During the war Libya was a battleground. After Italian and German forces were defeated in 1943, Libya passed to British and French rule. The United Kingdom and France operated Libya as a United Nations trusteeship territory until it became independent as a monarchy on 24 December 1951. Oil was discovered in 1959; it quickly became Libya's most important export, and has remained so ever since. In September 1969 military officers led by Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi overthrew the king and established their vision of a socialist, and highly repressive, Islamic state. Qaddafi is still in power today (2005). Libya's support of terrorists led to its being bombed by U.S. warplanes on 15-16 April 1986.
Wars since 1500
Spanish Conquests in North Africa, 1505-1511; Tripolitan War (against United States), 1800-1805; Italian Conquest and Pacification of Libya, 1911-1934; Second World in North Africa, 1940-1943 (United Kingdom, United States, and Free French forces against Germany, Italy, and Vichy French forces); Chadian Civil War of 1965-1996 (Libya supported Chadian guerillas and tried to seize land for itself); Libyan-Egyptian War of 1977.
Convertibility
The sterling area:
On 2 August 1914, soon after the First World War began, the United Kingdom issued a proclamation imposing a one-month moratorium of payment for bills of exchange accepted before 4 August; an act of 3 August 1914 gave legislative sanction to the proclamation. The moratorium was subsequently extended for a month and ended on 4 November 1914. Legally the pound sterling remained convertible into gold and could be exported, but the risk to shipping from German submarines made the cost of shipment prohibitive, so the United Kingdom was in effect off the gold standard. The British government refused to include private shipments of gold in its war-risk insurance scheme. After the war, the export of gold was prohibited from 1 April 1919 under regulations that were given statutory form in 1920. On 28 April 1925 the government announced that the act would not be renewed when it expired on 31 December 1925. On 13 May 1925 the United Kingdom resumed the gold standard.
The United Kingdom abandoned the gold standard on 21 September 1931. The currencies of British colonies were almost all linked to the pound sterling through currency boards; being on a sterling-exchange standard rather than a gold-exchange standard, they followed the pound sterling off gold. Over the next few years, some former British colonies (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and other countries that had important trade links with the United Kingdom switched from gold to the pound sterling as their official or actual anchor. The result was termed the sterling area. The United Kingdom imposed exchange controls on 4 September 1939, the day after entering the Second World War. Most countries that were not current or former British colonies soon left the sterling area. Among the remaining countries, both current- and capital-account transactions were free of restrictions within the sterling area, but were restricted in dealings with outside countries. After the Second World War, the United Kingdom returned to the gold standard under the Bretton Woods system. It removed exchange controls on 15 August 1947, but reimposed them on 20 August 1947 after suffering a large loss of foreign reserves. Sterling had a dual exchange rate from 1961 until the United Kingdom abolished exchange controls. The sterling area remained in existence because sterling was not fully convertible. It began to crumble after the United Kingdom again abandoned the gold standard on 23 June 1972. By January 1973 the sterling area had shrunk to the British Isles and a few small British colonies; even Hong Kong had abandoned sterling as its anchor currency. The United Kingdom abolished exchange controls on 24 October 1979, ending the sterling area.
Libya alone:
Libya gave equal treatment to accounts of residents inside and outside the sterling area on 4 June 1968; it left the sterling area on 15 December 1971 (IMF ARER 1969: 289; 1972: 273).
Other
Defaults on or restructurings of debt to the private sector (mainly from Purcell and Kaufman 1993 and Standard & Poor's 2004): None.
Banking crises (data since 1970s mainly from Caprio and Klingebiel 1999 and Frydl 1999): Bank runs about 1978.
Frankel and Rose (1996) list of currency crashes: None (not included).
References
Primary sources:
--Laws and decrees:
Libya. Gazette. 1934?-1942?, 1951-present. Bolettino ufficiale del governo della Libia (1934?-1942?); Al jardah al-Rasmyah (English version The Official Gazette of the Kingdom of Libya 1951-19??). Tripoli (in Arabic, Tarbulus): Ministry of Justice. (Successor to Tripolitania gazette; for the 1940s, between Italian rule and independence, a gazette may have existed but I have found no information on it.)
Great Britain (United Kingdom). Gazette. 1665-present. Oxford Gazette (1996-1666); London Gazette (1666-present). Oxford (1665-1666); London (1666-present): His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office from 1903. Online at <http://www.gazettes.online.co.uk>; as of September 2005, gazettes since 1900 are available.
Tripolitania. Gazette. 1912-1934? Bollettino ufficiale. Tripoli. (Succeeded by Libya gazette.)
--Publications of monetary authorities:
Banca d'Italia. Annual report. 1895-present. Adunanza generale ordinaria e straordinaria degli azionisti ... (1895-1935); Adunanza generale ordinaria dei partecipanti ... (1936-1950); Assemblea generale ordinaria dei partecipanti ... (1951-present). Rome: Tipografia della Banca d'Italia (1895-1950); Banca d'Italia, Centro Stampa (1951-present). An abridged English version is available from at least 1933 (Abridged Translation of the Report of the Governor at the Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders Held in Rome on the ... [1933-1939]; no English version 1940-1951; Abridged Version of the Report for the Year ... Presented at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders Held in Rome on ... [1952-1964]; Abridged Version of the Report for the Year ... Presented by the Governor at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders Held in Rome on ... [1965-1983]; Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders Held in Rome on ...; Abridged Report for the Year ... [1984-present]).
Bank al-Watan al-Lb (National Bank of Libya). Annual report. 1956/1957-1962/1963. First [etc.] Annual Report of the Board of Directors, Year Ended the 31st March ... Tripoli: National Bank of Libya. (Also in Arabic, which I have not seen.)
Banque Ottomane Impériale (Ottoman Bank, Banque Ottomane). Annual report. 1856-1912. Assemblée générale ordinaire (also known as Rapport sur l'exercise ...). Paris: Banque Ottomane Impériale.
Libyan Currency Commission. Annual report. 1952/1953-1955/1956. First [etc.] Report of the Libyan Currency Commission for the Period Ending 31st March, .... London: Waterlow and Sons (1952/1953); Libyan Currency Commission (1953/1954-1955/1956). (Also in Arabic, which I have not seen.)
Msrif Lbiy (Bank of Libya ). Annual report. 1963/1964-1969/1970. Eighth [etc.] Annual Report of the Board of Directors. Tripoli: Bank of Libya. (Also in Arabic, which I have not seen.. The numbering of the annual reports continues that of the National Bank of Libya.)
Msrif Lbiy al-Markaz (Central Bank of Libya). Annual report. 1970/1971-present. Fifteenth [etc.] Annual Report of the Board of Directors (1970/1971-1982/1983); Twentyninth [etc.] Annual Report (1983/1984-present?). Tripoli: Bank of Libya. (Also in Arabic, which I have not seen. The numbering of the annual reports continues that of the Bank of Libya. The last issue I have seen is 1983-1984)
Msrif Lbiy al-Markaz (Central Bank of Libya). Bulletin. Economic Research Division. 1961-present. Economic Bulletin. Tripoli: Central Bank of Libya.
--Web site of the current monetary authority (viewed 20 September 2005):
<http://www.cbl-ly.com>
--Other publications or Web sites:
British Military Administration. 1947. Handbook on Tripolitania. Tripoli: British Military Administration.
France. Report on Libya. 1950/1951. Annual Report of the French Government to the General Assembly Concering the Administration of Fezzan, 1950-51. Document No. A/1390. New York: United Nations.
Great Britain (United Kingdom). Report on Libya. 1950/1951. Annual Report of the Government of the United Kingdom to the General Assembly Concering the Administration of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, 1950-51 (Document No. A/1390, 1950/1951); Supplementary Report of the the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the General Assembly Concering the Administration of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania for the Period 15th October-24th December 1951 (Document No. A/2024, 1951). New York: United Nations.
IMF. International Monetary Fund. 1946-1971 (irregular). Schedule of Par Values. Washington: International Monetary Fund.
Main secondary sources:
Autheman, André. 1996. La Banque impériale ottomane. Paris: Ministère de l'économie et des finances, Comité pour l'histoire économique et financière de la France. English version The Imperial Ottoman Bank, translated by J. A. Underwood. Istanbul: Otoman Bank Archives and Research Centre, 2002.
Banca d'Italia. 1940. La Banca d'Italia nelle terre d'oltremare. Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato.
Bank of Libya. [1967]. Economic Research Division. Bank of Libya: A Brief History of Its First Decade 1956-1966. [Tripoli, Libya]: Bank of Libya.
BCEAO. 1966. Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest. Notes d'information et statistiques, issue "L'Afrique des monnaies," January 1966. Paris: Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest.
Blowers, G[eorge] A., and McLeod, A[lex] N. 1952. "Currency Unification in Libya." International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, v. 2, no. 3, November: 439-67.
Caldiron, Mario, and Caldiron, Toni. 1997. L'occupazione francese del Fezzan nella Libia italiana. Padua, Italy: no publisher (Villa del Conte, Padova [Padua]: Lito-tipografia Bertato). (I have not seen this. It is a philatelic study, but may have some more general useful information on dates of the French occupation.) [need to check it at Library of Congress]
Crossley, [Sir] Julian [Stanley], and John Blandford. 1975. The DCO Story: A History of Banking in Many Countries 1925-71. London: Barclays Bank International. (Concerns Barclays Bank Dominion, Colonial and Overseas, which operated in Libya.)
De Rosa, Luigi, and Gabriele de Rosa. 1982-1984. Storia del Banco di Roma, 3 v. Rome: Banco di Roma. (The Banco di Roma operated in Italian colonies. Luigi de Rosa wrote volumes 1 and 2 and Gabriele de Rosa wrote volume 3.)
Eldem, Edhem. 1999a. A History of the Ottoman Bank. Istanbul: Ottoman Bank Historical Research Center.
Eldem, Edhem. 1999b. Banknotes of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, 1863-1914: Based on the Ottoman Bank Archives and the Tahsin Isbiroglu collection. Istanbul: Ottoman Bank.
IMF ARER. 1950-present. International Monetary Fund. Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions (1950-1978), Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (1979-1988), Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions: Annual Report (1989-present). Washington: International Monetary Fund. (Contains information on IMF member countries and some of their dependencies.)
Khadduri, Majid. 1963. Modern Libya: A Study in Political Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
Pamuk, evket. 2000. A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tuccimei, Ercole. 1999. La Banca d'Italia in Africa: introduzione all'attività dell'Istituto di emissione delle colonie dall'età crispina alla seconda guerra mondiale. Rome: Laterza. (Concerns Italian colonies.) (I have not seen this.)
Monetary authorities: Libya
| Dates | Type | Name | Source | Remarks |
| 1906
-October? 1911 |
central bank (majority privately owned, with commercial banking functions) (as part of a currency union) | Banque Ottomane Impériale (Imperial Ottoman Bank) (headquarters Constantinople [now Istanbul], Turkey) | Ottoman Empire, Act of Concession of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, 4 February 1863, translated in Eldem (1999a: 463-7) | This bank, also known as the Ottoman Bank, opened a branch in Tripoli in 1906 (Autheman 1996: 275). It was the first bank in Libya. The bank had predominantly British and French ownership, with some Turkish government ownership. The second bank was the Banco di Roma (headquarters Rome, Italy), in Tripoli, on 15 April 1907 (de Rosa and de Rosa 1982, v. 1: 258). Coins had been minted locally since the 500s BC, but the Tripoli mint was closed in 1836. Ottoman Bank notes had been issued in Istanbul since 1856. |
| October? 1911
-1912 |
government issue | Ottoman government in Libya (mobile headquarters?) | [to come] | The local government issued emergency currency during the Ottoman and Libyan resistance to the Italian invasion. The Italian occupation of Tripoli began on 6 October 1911. |
| 1912
-February 1943 |
dollarization | Italian lira (issued by central bank Banca d'Italia [headquarters Rome, Italy]) | Italy, Decree No. 1367, 10 December 1911, cited in Banca d'Italia (1940: 13) | The Italian authorities introduced the Italian lira following Italy's conquest of Libya, a conquest confirmed by the Treaty of Lausanne on 18 October 1918. Tthe decree gave all three of Italy's note-issuing banks the right to open branches in Tripoli, Benghazi, and elsewhere in Libya. |
| February 1943
-23 March 1952 |
dollarization and occupation currency | in different regions, French colonial francs, Egyptian pound (issued by central bank National Bank of Egypt [headquarters London, England]) and occupation currency British Military Administration pound / British Military Administration lira from September 1943 (issued by British Military Administration [headquarters Tripoli, Libya]) (see Remarks) | United Kingdom, Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, Tripolitania Proclamation No. 7, February? 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd (1948: 275); Free French military administration, proclamation of February? 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd (1948: 393); Rennell Rodd (1948: 274-5, 282-3) | British and French military authorities introduced these currencies following the Allied victory over Italian and German forces in Libya during the Second World War. The Egyptian pound was used in Cyrenaica (the eastern zone, next to Egypt) and the British military pound (later lira) in Tripolitania (the northwestern zone). Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) opened a branch in Tripoli on 5 April 1943 (Rennell Rodd 1948: 393). In Fezzan (the southwestern zone, next to Algeria), apparently notes of the Banque de l'Afrique Occidentale overprinted for the Free French Caisse Centrale de la France Libre (CCFL) (headquarters London, England) were used initially, then notes of the Banque de l'Algérie (from 1949 called Banque de l'Algérie et de la Tunisie) (headquarters for both Paris, France). |
| 24 March 1952
-31 March 1956 |
currency board | Libyan Currency Commission (headquarters Tripoli, Libya) | Libya, Libyan Currency Law, No. 4, 24 October 1951, reprinted in Libyan Currency Commission annual report, 31 March 1953: 6-8 | Established a currency board as an explicitly temporary institution to give newly independent Libya a unified currency. The currency board issued its first notes and coins on 24 March 1952. Its legal seat was in Libya but it was empowered to hold meetings elsewhere, and it held meetings in London. |
| 1 April 1956
-21 December 1970 |
central bank (with commercial banking functions) | National Bank of Libya / Bank of Libya from 15 April 1963 (headquarters for both Tripoli, Libya) | Libya, National Bank of Libya Law, No. 30, 26 April 1955, cited in National Bank of Libya annual report, 31 March 1957: 5; Banking Law, No. 4, 5 February 1963, cited in Bank of Libya annual report, 31 March 1964: 1 | Converted the currency board into a central bank in accord with the predominant economic doctrine of the time. Libya joined the IMF on 17 September 1958. The Banking Law of 1963 made the commercial banking and central banking sides of the central bank more distinct. The law was published 15 April 1963 (BCEAO 1966: 8). Following a military coup of 1 September 1969, the governemnt closed banks for ten days, alooweing them to reopen on 11 September 1969 (Libya, Minister of Finance, Decision No. 1 of 11 September 1969, cited in Bank of Libya annual report 1969/1970: 55). On 13 November 1969 Libya required foreign banks to have at least 51% Libyan ownership (Libya, Libyanization Decree, 13 November 1969, cited in Bank of Libya annual report 1969/1970: 57; IMF ARER 1970: 311). |
| 22 December 1970
-present (2005) |
central bank | Central Bank of Libya or Msrif Lbiy al-Markaz (headquarters for Tripoli, Libya) | Libya, Law No. 153, 22 December 1970, cited in Central Bank of Libya annual report 1970/1971: 157 | The law and fully nationalized foreign banks, effective 24 December 1970. It also separated the central banking functions of the National Bank of Libya from the commercial banking functions. The Commercial Banking Division of Bank of Libya merged with two other banks to form the National Commercial Bank (headquarters Tripoli, Libya). Banks that were not yet fully government owned became so in 1977, but this was apparently not a full-fledged monobank system. IMF ARER (1972: 273) says Libya, Law No. 63 of 26 August 1971, changed the name of the central bank to the Central Bank of Libya, effective 1 September 1971, but the words "Central Bank of Libya" had already begun to appear on the banks's 1970/1971 annual report, which may have been published earlier in the year. |
Exchange rate arrangements: Libya
| Dates | Official arrangement | Source | Unofficial arrangement, if different | Remarks |
| 1835
-1906 |
fixed; used Ottoman currency (as part of a currency union) | Pamuk (2000: 185) | The Ottoman Empire effectively reasserted rule over Tripoli in 1835, which is why I begin this period then. Officially, all foreign coins were banned in 1883 (Ottoman Empire, circular of 25 January 1883), though they were later accepted for some payments (Ottoman Empire, circular of June 1894). The Ottoman lira was decimalized in 1881. | |
| 1906
-1912 |
pegged, 1 Ottoman pound (lira) = 6.61519g gold = 102.820629g silver | Ottoman Empire, decree of 5 January 1880 entitled "Mesclis-i Meb'usann in'ikadnda kanuniyeti tasdik olunmak üzere meskûkât- Osmanliyye hakknda kararname layihas"; Autheman (1996: 275) | In practice, a gold standard alone. | The Banque Ottomane Impériale (Imperial Ottoman Bank) opened a local branch, changing the exchange rate from fixed to pegged. |
| 1912
-February 1943 |
fixed; used Italian lira | Italy, Decree No. 1367, 10 December 1911, cited in Banca d'Italia (1940: 13) | Italy introduced the Italian lira following its conquest of Libya. The Italian lira was a decimal currency. (Technically, the decree cited is about Italian banks rather than the lira itself.) | |
| February 1943
-15? September 1943 |
fixed; used Algerian franc and Egyptian pound, alongside pegged; British Military Administration £1 = UK£1 (see Remarks) | United Kingdom, Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, Tripolitania Proclamation No. 7, February? 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd (1948: 275); Free French military administration, proclamation of February? 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd (1948: 393) | British and French military authorities introduced the currencies listed following the Allied victory over Italian and German forces in Libya during the Second World War. The British Military Administration pound, used in Tripolitania, was not officially convertible into the pound sterling. It was not a decimal currency. Italian currency was used as small change, at a rate of 480 Italian lire = British Military Adminitration £1. | |
| 16? September 1943
-23 March 1952 |
fixed; used Algerian franc and Egyptian pound, alongside pegged; 480 British Military Administration lire = UK£1 (see Remarks) | United Kingdom, Occupied Enemy Territory Administration, Proclamation No. 46, 16 September 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd (1948: 282) | The British Military Administration lira replaced the British Military Administration pound. The British Military Administration lira was a decimal currency, but like the British Military Administration pound, it was not officially convertible into the pound sterling. The period for exchanging British Military Administration pounds and Italian lire for the new currency in Tripolitania lasted until 30 November 1943 (United Kingdom, Occupied Enemy Territory November 27, 2005Administration, Proclamation No. 50, October 1943, cited in Rennell Rodd 1948: 283). | |
| 24 March 1952
-31 March 1956 |
fixed; Libyan £1 = UK£1 = 2.48828g gold | Libya, Libyan Currency Law, No. 4, 24 October 1951, reprinted in Libyan Currency Commission annual report, 31 March 1953: 6-8 | RR: Parallel market premium in mid to high triple digits from January 1955, when data begin, to late 1955. (This seems implausible to me, since the monetary authority was a currency board.) Premium then plunges to single digits. | Introduced a national currency to replace foreign and occupation currencies. The Libyan pound was divided into 1,000 millièmes. The Libyan pound was named after the pound sterling. |
| 1 April 1956
-17 November 1967 |
pegged; Libyan £1 = UK£1 = 2.48828g gold | Libya, National Bank of Libya Law, No. 30, 26 April 1955, cited in National Bank of Libya annual report, 31 March 1957: 5 | RR: Parallel market premium in low double digits. | A central bank replaced the currency board, so the exchange rate changed from fixed to pegged. Libya registered a gold parity with the IMF on 12 August 1959 (IMF, 28th Schedule of Par Values, 14 August 1959: 3, 13). |
| 18 November 1967
-15 August 1971 |
pegged; Libyan £1 = US$2.80 = 2.48828g gold, or Libyan £0.85488 = UK£1 | Bank of Libya annual report 1967/1968: 54-5 | RR: Parallel market premium in low to mid double digits. | Did not follow the devaluation of the pound sterling on 18 November 1967. The Bank of Libya's annual report (1967/1968: 55) says, "The value of the Libyan pound at present is determined according to the stable foreign curencies such as the Deutsch Mark and the French Franc." This statement implies a movement away from the pound sterling as the anchor currency. On 27 July 1970, the central bank forbade the sale of foreign exchagne "to prevent dealing in foreign currency on the black market." It allowed sales to resume on 21 December 1970 (Central Bank of Libya annual report 1970/1971: 164). |
| 16 August 1971
-31 August 1971 |
pegged; Libyan £1 = 2.48828g gold (nominally) | Central Bank of Libya annual report 1971/1972: 78; IMF ARER (1972: 273) | RR: Parallel market premium in low double digits. | Gold convertibility for all countries ended in practice when the United States abandoned the gold standard on 15 August 1971. Libya floated the Libyan pound against the US dollar and the pound sterling, using the now merely nominal gold value as its reference. The central bank ceased quoting exchange rates on 16 August 1971 and resumed on 28 August 1971. |
| 1 September 1971
-21 December 1971 |
managed? float; inoperative gold parity 1 Libyan dinar = 2.48828g gold (nominally) | Libya, Law No. 63, 26 August 1971, cited in IMF ARER (1972: 273) | In practice, a band; the
Central Bank of Libya
annual report
(1971/1972: 78) says
that at the end of
September 1971 the
width of the band was
approximately 4.4%.
RR: Parallel market premium in low double digits. |
Changed the name of the currency to the dinar (1 Libyan dinar = Libyan £1) to emphasize a distinctive Arab identity, since the dinar was a longstanding monetary unit of Arab countries. "Dinar" comes from the Latin denarius, an ancient Roman coin that had both silver and gold versions (the latter called the denarius aureus). |
| 22 December 1971
-14 February 1973 |
pegged; 1 Libyan dinar = US$3.04 = 2.48828g gold (nominally), or 0.328947 Libyan dinar = US$1 | IMF ARER (1972: 274) | RR: Parallel market premium in low double digits. Managed float. | The central bank resumed publishing buying and selling rates for quoted currencies. Apparently it had ceased doing so on 18 December 1971, following the devaluation of the US dollar against gold on 18 December 1971. The central bank ceased quoting rates for foreign exchange on 24 June 1972, after the United Kingdom devalued the pound sterling on 23 June 1972; the central bank resumed quotations on 29 June 1972 (IMF ARER 1973: 307). The Central Bank of Libya annual report (1972/1973: 96) refers to an "exchange rate fixing system" adopted in the third week of August 1972 and lasting until the end of the period. I take it this was the central bank's practice of setting its dealing rates against select foreign currencies for short periods. |
| 15 February 1973
-31 March 1978 |
pegged; 1 Libyan dinar = US$3.37777 = 2.48828g gold (nominally), or 0.296053 Libyan dinar = US$1 | Central Bank of Libya annual report 1972/1973: 86; IMF ARER (1974: 280) | RR: Parallel market premium in low to mid double digits. Managed float. | Did not follow the devaluation of the US dollar on 13 February 1973. |
| 1 April 1978
-1985 |
pegged; 0.296053 Libyan dinar = US$1 (1 Libyan dinar = US$3.37777) | International Monetary Fund, Board of Governors, Resolution No. 31-4, 30 April 1976 ("Second Amendment") | RR: Parallel market premium climbs from low double digits to above 200%. Managed float. | The system of gold par values officially ended by agreement of IMF members. A partial currency confiscation occurred on 15 May 1980. New Libyan 5- and 10-dinar notes were issued, and old notes were exchangeable at 1:1 into bank deposits, but people were only allowed to withdraw 500 dinars a month from banks. The purpose of the measure was to force cash back into the banks. |
| 1985
-17 March 1986 |
pegged, dual rate; official rate 0.296053 Libyan dinar = US$1 (1 Libyan dinar = US$3.37777) | IMF ARER (1986: 338; 1990: 287) | RR: Parallel market premium above 200%. | To finance the Great Man-Made River, foreign-currency transactions of the private sector were subject to a fee, later specified to be 15% on purchases and 15% on sales (IMF ARER 2002: 545). The IMF does not qualify Libya as having more than one exchange rate until 1999, but I do. The fees lasted until 14 June 2003 |
| 18 March 1986
-30 April 1986 |
pegged to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR | IMF ARER (1987: 325 | RR: Parallel market premium above 200%. Managed float. Band width +/-5%. | Switched to the SDR as the anchor currency and devalued slightly: the exchange rate of 17 March 1986 had been 1 Libyan dinar = 2.92554 SDR. |
| 1 May 1986
-March 1992 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 7.5% | IMF ARER (1987: 325) | RR: Parallel market premium rising to above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. | Introduced a band and depreciated the currency within the band by the maximum amount (7.5%). |
| March 1992
-July 1992 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 11% | IMF ARER (1992: 301) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. Actual band is +/-5%. | Widened the band. |
| July 1992
-August 1992 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 13.5% | IMF ARER (1992: 301) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. Parallel market, with premium consistently above 400%. Actual band is +/-5%. | Widened the band further. |
| August 1992
-18 August 1993 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 16% | IMF ARER (1992: 301) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. Actual band is +/-5%. | Widened the band still further. |
| 19 August 1993
-31 October 1994 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 25% | IMF ARER (1993: 296) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. Actual band is +/-5%. | Widened the band still further. |
| 1 November 1994
-30 October 1998 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 47% | IMF ARER (1995: 292) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400%. De facto crawling band around US dollar. Actual band is +/-5%. | Widened the band still further and allowed the currency to depreciate to the limit. (IMF ARER 1999: 506, 510 says the band was 43%, but this is apparently a typogrpahical error, because all previous editions say the band was 47%.) |
| 31 October 1998
-13 February 1999 |
band to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 77.5% | IMF ARER (1999: 510) | RR: Parallel market premium above 400% until data end in December 1998. De facto crawling band around US dollar, with band width of +/-5%. | Widened the band still further and let the currency depreciate to the limit. |
| 14 February 1999
-31 December 2001 |
band to rigid basket, multiple rates; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 2.80 SDR with total bandwidth of 47% (IMF: band, reclassified as conventional peg 30 June 2001) | IMF ARER (2000: 518, 522) | The official parallel
rate was flexible.
RR: Dual market to December 2001, when data end. |
Created another official rate by legalizing the parallel market. The fees to finance the Great Man-Made River, mentioned above, also still existed, so I classify the exchange rate system as multiple while the IMF calls it a dual rate. The official rate was the maximum depreciation allowed within the band, that is, 1 Libyan dinar = 1.577 SDR initially. The parallel rate floated. The band was apparently widened in 2001, but IMF ARER (2001: 536) does not specify its width. |
| 1 January 2002
-14 June 2003 |
pegged to rigid basket, dual rate; official rate 1 Libyan dinar = 0.608 SDR | IMF ARER (2003: 556, 560) | The second exchange rate was a spread of +/-15% around the official rate. | Devalued from the previous rate of 1 Libyan dinar = 1.224 SDR and eliminated the difference between the main official rate and the parallel rate. The fees to finance the Great Man-Made River, mentioned above, also still existed, so I classify the exchange rate system as dual while the IMF calls it a unitary rate. On 1 April 2003 the central bank reduced the margin on sales of foreign exchange from 2% to 1% (IMF ARER 2004: 543). |
| 15 June 2003
-present (2005) |
pegged to rigid basket; 1 Libyan dinar = 0.5175 SDR | IMF ARER (2004: 539, 543-4) | Devalued and eliminated the fees to finance the Great Man-Made River. The 1% tax on sales of foreign exchange remained. |