Al-Shaibani: The Ministry of Economy’s pricing and raids are behind the disappearance of cooking oil. The commodity’s return depends on ending pressure or a decline in the parallel dollar rate.
Libyan economist Abdul Rahim Al-Shaibani believes cooking oil disappeared after the Ministry of Economy imposed mandatory pricing. This also followed security raids on factories and warehouses of major traders. Some were closed for not adhering to the new prices. Al-Shaibani made these statements exclusively to the Libyan News Agency (Lana).
Concerns about the crisis escalating to disrupt commercial activity.
Al-Shaibani stated that this commodity has become a problem. It could escalate to completely paralyze commercial activity. He explained that major traders are hiding their stock. They aim to avoid losses or issues with regulatory authorities.
Conditions for cooking oil’s return to markets, according to Al-Shaibani.
Al-Shaibani clarified cooking oil’s return to markets depends on two factors. One is an end to the security campaign’s pressure. The other is a drop in the hard currency price in the parallel market. He believes traders price their goods based on the parallel market rate. They do not use the actual import cost.