African Development Bank: Libya's Economy Susceptible to Shocks With Floundering Diversification Plans.

Tripoli, 4 February 2020(Lana) The African Development Bank said Libya's economy could see shocks as a result of floundering plans for diversification, as economy depends by 96% on oil exports. In its report on economic outlook in Africa 2020 issued on Monday, the Bank said Libyan economic growth in 2020 depended on increasing oil production, indicating that floundering diversification plans and Government dependence on oil exports for its budget, cause the country to face shocks in the future. On future economic prospects, the Bank noted slow of gross domestic product by nearly 4% in 2019 due to decline of oil prices. Inflation increased in 2019 due to the clashes in the capital though it subsided in 2018 and the first quarter of last year. As for the financial deficit, it increased in 2019 by 10.9% of the gross domestic product compared to 7.4% in 2018. The Bank attribute the deficit to decline of oil prices despite the increase of production to 1.15 million bpd in the second quarter of 2019 from 970000 bpd in 2018. =Lana=