Libya’s Central Bank has launched “Ratebk Lahzi” — a real-time salary transfer platform designed to deposit public sector wages directly into employees’ accounts via the national instant payment network. Developed in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, the system aims to streamline payroll operations and reduce delays in salary disbursement.
According to the Central Bank, the platform is progressing as planned. Data for nearly two million pensioners and public employees has already been collected, and the bank is currently verifying records for an additional 700,000 citizens to ensure their accounts are eligible for August’s payroll cycle.
Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba has strongly defended the initiative, calling it a “national necessity” rather than a mere technical upgrade. In a social media post, he argued that digitizing payroll management is essential to protecting public funds and ensuring fairness for legitimate state employees. He emphasized that salaries account for 55% of Libya’s public spending, and that timely payments are a core government commitment.
Dabaiba also criticized the misuse of salary allocations, citing cases where wages were paid to individuals not performing any official duties, while thousands of legitimate employees await their first paycheck. He claimed the new system would curb decades-old patterns of financial waste and open the door for long-delayed salary releases.
Supporters of the platform include State Council member Belkacem Debrez, who described it as a “modern, anti-bureaucratic solution” that eliminates duplicate and fraudulent payroll entries. “Those who oppose it are simply thieves,” he said bluntly.
However, the initiative has met resistance from Libya’s eastern-based government led by Osama Hammad, which refused to share employee banking data with the Tripoli-based Ministry of Finance. In a formal statement, Hammad’s administration argued that the unity government’s mandate had expired and warned that transferring sensitive financial data could lead to political or administrative exploitation outside legal frameworks.
The eastern government said it had previously proposed joint reforms during meetings with the House of Representatives and the Central Bank governor, including salary law activation, budget unification, and revenue diversification. It insisted that unilateral implementation of the Ratebk Lahzi system was unacceptable without prior agreement and technical guarantees.
It also called on public institutions in western Libya to review their financial status with the parliamentary finance committee to ensure transparent budget allocations and prevent payroll duplication.
Legal scholar Abdullah Al-Dibani backed the eastern government’s stance, arguing that withholding employee data from the unity government was justified — especially if recommended by the Central Bank. He stressed that the bank alone is constitutionally responsible for salary management and that the unity government has no legitimate reason to access personnel records.
As the debate intensifies, the Central Bank remains the only institution with the legal and technical mandate to oversee payroll data. Between calls for reform, accusations of misuse, and competing claims of legitimacy, the future of Libya’s digital payroll system hangs in the balance — caught between promises of transparency and fears of politicization.
