Libya’s stock market resumes trading after more than nine years of closure. After being closed for more than nine years due to the political and security circumstances in Libya, the Stock Market of Libya began trading on Monday at a venue located in the capital city of Tripoli.
Among the authorities who rang the bell to herald the restart of trade were Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, the prime minister of the Government of National Unity, and Bashir Mohamed Ashour, the chairman of the board of directors of the market.
According to a source who spoke to the media on Monday, the stock market also has a trading hall in Benghazi, the second city in Libya. Trading is anticipated to restart early the following week.
According to Dbeibah, the Central Bank of Libya is “one of the means to improve the economy of Libya.”
“The importance of the stock market is embodied in doubling the gross domestic product and helping to close the budget deficit, which reduces the burden on the state’s general budget,” stated the politician.
“Stability and development of the various sectors of the state” is what Ashour indicated would determine whether or not the market would be booming.
In his statement, he stated that the stock market will work toward increasing the number of listings.
According to Lamin Haman, the market’s media consultant, just three of the ten firms listed on Monday’s trading schedule traded. All ten companies were included in the trading schedule.
In 2006, the market was initially introduced. Trading was halted for more than a year following the overthrow of the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, which the North Atlantic Treaty Organization supported.
During the civil conflict that was taking place in 2014 between armed factions who were competing for power, commerce was once again halted. It was in the same year that the biggest oil producer in North Africa was split between two factions at war: eastern and western.
