A number of social media activists said that they intend to organize a protest against policies of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) that are related to the lack of cash and the exchange rate instability in the country. The protest will take place in Algeria Square in Tripoli on Monday, February 19, to demand the CBL to take urgent and rapid measures to provide liquidity in banks and to address the exchange rate issue in the parallel market, according to organizers.

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The Tunisian-Libyan Bank (The Banque Tuniso-Libyenne BTL) announced that it will open a new headquarters in Tripoli in 2018. According to the Tunisian newspaper Sabah News, the BTL will open its doors on Wednesday, February 26th in the capital Tripoli, and is looking to expand its work by opening 6 to 7 new branches every year despite the decline of its income in the Tunisian branch due to current political situation there. The BTL was founded in 1984 as a development banking institution before expanding its work to become an international bank in 2005.

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A Seminar on the crisis of liquidity in Libya concluded in Tunisia after two days of debate with the participation of the Central Bank of Libya and more than 20 other banking institutions, in addition to a number of economists. The Seminar discussed a number of core issues, which included the proposed solutions to solve the liquidity crisis, consolidating the Central's Bank work, the urgent economic reforms needed, the role of political stability in solving the economic crisis, the trend towards using the electronic card, and opening letters of credit to facilitate the import of various products. Proposals and other papers were introduced during the Seminar to bring effective solutions and move this matter forward.

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Chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayaz Al-Sarraj, had called on Britain to resume the work of its embassy from Tripoli, and to intensify its support for Libya at both political and economic levels. This came during Thursday meeting with the new British ambassador to Libya, Frank Baker, in Tripoli. The British ambassador expressed his pleasure to take on his duties in Libya, pointing out to the solid friendship that binds the two countries, according to the Information Office of the Presidential Council. Baker also emphasized his country's support for Al-Sarraj efforts to overcome the persisting stalemate to find an acceptable solution, reaffirming his country's commitment to continue working to support the plan of the UN special envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, towards presidential and parliamentary elections and provide all necessary assistance to achieve this goal.

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The Media Committee of the International Conference of Benghazi Reconstruction and its accompanying exhibition held a meeting on Saturday, in the presence of the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the Conference, to assess the work achieved by the committee during the previous period. The Chairman of the Media Committee, Saad Al-Badri, clarified that the meeting defined the future plans and its implementation mechanism, pointing out that they had fulfilled all tasks assigned to them by the Preparatory Committee. The Media Committee, in coordination with the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, also set a date for holding a press conference in the presence of the Mayor of Benghazi next Tuesday to review the findings of the current workshop held in Tunisia.

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Red Crescent in Al-Kufra said Sunday that one of the volunteers was kidnapped while on his way between Al-Kufra and northeastern areas. The Red Crescent Facebook page explained that unidentified people kidnapped Mohammed Al-Sosae, urging security apparatuses to ensure his release. Meanwhile, two days ago, 8 people were kidnapped on the Jalu-Al-Kufra road, where there’s growing gangs’ acts.

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Unknown gunmen kidnapped eight civilians on Friday at a fake security checkpoint on the road between Kufra city in southeastern Libya and Jalu town in the northeastern side. Local sources from Kufra said the gunmen stopped a passenger bus travelling from Kufra to Jalu and forced eight passengers out of the bus. The sources confirmed that the abductees are from the cities of Kufra and Ajdabiya, noting that the gunmen are believed to be from an armed gang that was involved in robbery, kidnapping, extortion and murder. The sources reported that the incident occurred about 50 kilometres from the city of Kufra on the road leading to Jalu, explaining that the abductees were taken to an unknown destination, and investigations by security authorities are under way.

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