On 1 October, Libyan security units affiliated with the Government of National Unity (GNU) Ministry of Interior (MoI) closed the Masheer Currency and Gold Market in Tripoli’s Old City and banned the direct sale of dollars, a move described as aimed at curbing speculation and limiting chaos in the parallel currency market. These security measures coincided with the Central Bank of Libya’s (CBL) efforts to re-establish control over the foreign exchange market after a period of sharp fluctuations.
The same day, sources in the parallel currency market reported a decline in the dollar exchange rate. The dollar exchange rate in Tripoli reached LYD 7.010 to 1 USD and in Benghazi LYD 6.98 to 1 USD. On 4 October, the rate in Tripoli fell to 6.94 LYD to USD, the lowest since April.
On 3 October, the CBL Governor Naji Essa held a meeting with representatives of licensed exchange companies in which he pledged to use all available resources to maintain the stability of foreign exchange rates, stressing that speculation against the Libyan dinar is equivalent to working against the country itself.