Libyans reel from dinar devaluation

Libyans are facing rising prices and eroded purchasing power following April’s decision by the Central Bank to devalue the dinar by 13.3%, AFP reports. The new official exchange rate of 5.56 dinars per U.S. dollar sent the black market rate surging to above 7.80. This is the second devaluation in five years.

The move reflects years of unsustainable public spending by Libya’s rival governments—one in Tripoli, the other in the east, backed by General Khalifa Haftar. Despite holding Africa’s largest oil reserves, Libya relies heavily on imports for food and medicine.

The UN has urged urgent reforms, warning of rising costs, collapsing trust, and worsening hardship. Protests erupted in Tripoli, though economists argue the central bank is wrongly scapegoated for decisions driven by political gridlock.

Analysts say the devaluation was a last-resort attempt to prevent bankruptcy, underscoring the institutional fragility of Libya’s divided post-conflict state.