Libya’s central bank governor submits resignation, documents show

The governor of Libya’s Central Bank, Naji Issa, has submitted his resignation to the country’s rival legislative chambers, according to two documents seen by Reuters on Monday.

In the documents, whose authenticity was confirmed by Issa, he said he could not continue in his post, but did not explain why, citing the sensitivity of the reasons.

Issa said: “I apologise for not being able to continue in my duties as governor of the Central Bank of Libya, without stating the reasons, due to their sensitivity.”

He confirmed the authenticity of the documents in a message to Reuters, declining to reveal more about the reasons behind his decision.

The two legislative chambers are the eastern-based House of Representatives that was elected in 2014 and the High Council of State in the west, which was formed as part of a 2015 political ​agreement and whose members were drawn from a parliament elected in 2012.

Libya has been divided since 2014 into rival authorities in the west and east that emerged from the chaos following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011.

Issa took up the post in 2024 when the two legislative chambers agreed to his appointment as a way to end a standoff over control of the central bank that led to the ousting of former governor Sadiq al-Kabir.

The standoff was triggered when western factions moved in August 2024 to oust Kabir and replace him with a rival board, leading eastern factions to shut down all oil production. The move sharply reduced Libya’s oil output and exports during the crisis.