![A general view of the Port of Kharg Island Oil Terminal, in Iran, seen on March 12, 2017 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/20170312_2_22363615_19798169.jpg?fit=1200%2C742&ssl=1)
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) has warned that it is being crippled by the UN freeze on its international assets, once estimated to be worth $69 billion. According to the LIA, as a direct result of the freeze, $719 million was lost in 2014.
The new LIA board appointed last month by the Presidency Council is pushing for the introduction of “smart sanctions” on the country which would enable the LIA to have various controls over its assets but with any investments still approved by the UN. New LIA chairman Ali Hassan Mahmoud has taken measures to gain support for a smarter sanctions scheme, having his first meeting with the new chief of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ghassan Salamé, in Tripoli.
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The UN official is said to have praised the investment authority on its progress and assured Mahmoud that he was ready to assist in “enhancing its governance and operations for the benefit of all Libyans.”
The LIA board has outlined internal reforms and a timeline to persuade the UN to adopt smart sanctions. It hopes to see further research of the jurisdictions where assets are held and the sanctions to which they are subject.
Mahmoud also met with British diplomats and US ambassador Peter Bodde in Tunis last week, where he raised the subject of the scheme. It is also being presented by Libya’s UN mission in New York. In addition, talks have been initiated between the LIA, the Central Bank of Bahrain and Libyan-owned Arab Banking Corporations based in the Gulf state.
Libya suffered a 30 per cent drop in oil revenues in the first quarter of this year, with a 44 per cent drop in revenue with only $2.2 billion raised out of an expected $3.87 billion.
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Earlier this year, the European Union promised that it will hand Libya another $5.62 million to the Stabilisation Facility for Libya to improve basic public services in the country. Infrastructure has suffered since the revolution in 2011.
Last year, over $32 million was donated, including the first batch of $5.62 million from the EU which has since been used to fund a number of projects including new ambulances, rubbish collection trucks, solar panels, generators for hospitals, computers for schools and municipal internet services.