Libya frozen assets: what is behind the $150 billion figure

Dbeibah cited $150 billion in Libyan assets abroad. LIM explains Libya’s frozen assets and why the pending audit matters to investors.

LIBYA ECONOMY

Libya Investment Monitor Research Desk

10/26/20268 min read

Gold outline of Libya on black with lines to overseas asset points under a gold audit lens

Published 26 October 2026 | Last updated 26 October 2026

Key facts

Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah said on 25 October 2026 that Libyan financial assets abroad are worth about $150 billion. No breakdown has been published.
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) reported $71.9 billion in total assets for 2024. The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) reported $98.8 billion in foreign assets in October 2025. Together they exceed the Doha figure.
Frozen LIA cash can be reinvested only in low-risk instruments, and the income stays frozen.
Paragraph 17 of UN Security Council Resolution 2819 calls for an audit of the amount, location and jurisdiction of all frozen assets.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah told the World Investment Forum in Doha on 25 October that the market value of Libyan financial assets abroad is about $150 billion. He made the statement while inviting foreign investors into sectors from energy to tourism. No breakdown of the figure has been published.

Investors reasonably want to know what a government already owns before they commit capital. The two largest known pools of Libyan overseas assets, held by the LIA and the CBL, do not match the number Dbeibah gave. Part of the LIA’s holdings are frozen assets under UN sanctions, and published accounts of the speech do not explain the difference.

How much are Libya’s assets abroad worth?

No public breakdown exists. Dbeibah put the figure at about $150 billion, while the two largest known pools, held by the Libyan Investment Authority and the Central Bank of Libya, total roughly $170 billion on figures from different dates. The Doha number is therefore not a simple sum of them.

The known pools, by source: the LIA reported $71.9 billion in total assets at the end of 2024, partly frozen. The UN Panel of Experts put LIA assets at $71.5 billion as of 2023, with $38.9 billion frozen, according to the US State Department. The LIA’s directly managed financial assets stood at $51.8 billion at the end of March 2026: $25.2 billion in deposits, $13.5 billion in equities and $3.9 billion in funds, with $9.22 billion in uninvested cash. Its indirect assets, held through subsidiaries, were valued at $28.2 billion in 2019. The CBL’s foreign assets reached $98.8 billion at the end of October 2025. They are not frozen and back the dinar and imports. The Doha figure of about $150 billion came with no breakdown.

The LIA, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, reported total assets of $71.9 billion in its 2024 annual report: $39.51 billion in its financial portfolio, $29.35 billion in subsidiaries and affiliates, and $3.04 billion in cash flows from investment activities. The UN Panel of Experts put LIA assets at $71.5 billion as of 2023, with $38.9 billion subject to the asset freeze, according to the US State Department’s 2026 investment climate statement.

The CBL’s total foreign assets reached $98.8 billion at the end of October 2025, according to CBL data reported by Al Araby Al Jadeed. The CBL’s investment committee said in October 2025 that gold made up about $18.2 billion of its portfolios.

Estimates in the $150 billion range predate the speech. Al-Estiklal, an Arabic-language outlet, quoted an expert saying the Security Council’s 2011 freeze covered about $150 billion in sovereign funds plus 144 tonnes of gold. In April 2026, Erem Business reported estimates of $150 billion to $200 billion from a Libyan oversight official and an economist. The economist, al-Ghweil, said the figures remain estimates until a full inventory and audit are complete.

What does UN Resolution 2819 allow Libya to do with frozen assets?

Resolutions 2769 and 2819 let the Libyan Investment Authority reinvest frozen cash in low-risk instruments, but the assets and their income stay frozen, and reinvestment needs prior approval from the UN Sanctions Committee, according to the State Department. Erem Business reports the assets cannot be directed to public spending or development programs.

Resolution 2769, adopted in 2025, was the first to allow this, and it covered matured bonds as well as cash. Resolution 2819, adopted unanimously on 14 April 2026, extends the sanctions regime to 15 August 2027. It lets the LIA change its global custodian bank within the same jurisdiction, and it updates paragraph 19(a) of Resolution 1970 so frozen assets can pay the LIA’s salaries and requirements.

The CBL’s foreign assets are not frozen, but they are committed elsewhere. They back the dinar and pay for imports. The CBL reported a $6.7 billion foreign exchange deficit through October 2025 and planned to inject $2.5 billion from 1 April 2026 to clear a backlog of letters of credit. Reserves used for monetary support are unavailable for projects.

How has the Libyan Investment Authority performed?

The LIA reported $51.8 billion in directly managed financial assets at the end of March 2026 and $307.7 million in first-quarter returns. Its audited accounts are still being finished, and its indirect assets rest on a 2019 valuation. The Sentry, a US advocacy group, alleges mismanagement of foreign property.

The $51.8 billion compares with $50.9 billion at the end of 2025. Of the $307.7 million earned in the first quarter, $234.3 million came from the $25.2 billion deposit portfolio, roughly 3.7% annualized by LIM’s calculation. The LIA reported $1.63 billion in returns for 2024. A third-party registry citing the LIA reports about $2.0 billion for 2025.

The LIA says it is completing audits of its separate financial statements and its Long-Term Portfolio through the 2024 financial year. Its $28.2 billion of indirect assets rests on a 2019 Deloitte valuation. Resolution 2819 repeats the Security Council’s request for audited consolidated statements and for resolving data inaccuracies and conflicts of interest, in language quoted by The Sentry’s executive director in The New Arab. The LIA says the resolution reflects the Council’s confidence in its stewardship.

In March 2026, The Sentry published a more critical assessment. It reported that the LIA let a $72 million London building sit vacant for about a decade, at an estimated $79 million in lost rent. It also reported that a $210 million Libyan investment in Sandton, Johannesburg, has a flagship hotel that has been closed since 2020. The LIA did not respond to The Sentry’s request for comment. The Sentry also argues that more than half of the LIA’s assets can be actively managed despite the freeze.

Dbeibah chairs the LIA’s board of trustees, so the speaker in Doha also oversees the fund that reported $71.9 billion in total assets for 2024.

How does Libya’s $70 billion investment plan compare with its budget?

Tripoli offered a $70 billion portfolio of projects to US adviser Massad Boulos in July 2025. Libya’s unified 2026 budget is about LD190 billion ($29.95 billion), according to MEED, with LD40 billion ($6.3 billion) for development. Spending authority has been contested between rival institutions.

The portfolio, presented on 23 July 2025, covers energy, minerals, electricity, infrastructure and telecoms. Libya’s rival institutions signed the unified budget on 11 April 2026, and ten governments welcomed the agreement.

Before that, in February 2026, Dbeibah warned that parallel expenditure had exceeded LD70 billion and urged a halt to project funding. In June 2025, the House of Representatives approved LD69 billion ($12.7 billion) for the reconstruction fund headed by Belgasem Haftar, spread over three years. Dbeibah called the decision a financial catastrophe.

Foreign direct investment is small against these numbers. One aggregator shows $0.79 billion in 2023, or 1.81% of GDP. The State Department notes that incentives for foreign investors still rest on the 2010 Investment Law.

What is the case for Libya’s balance sheet?

The IMF’s 2024 Article IV consultation said Libya has no public debt as conventionally understood and projected reserves covering about 34 months of imports. The LIA can also now earn interest on frozen cash. A government can reasonably cite such holdings as financial strength.

That argument holds only as far as the numbers can be checked. A reserve with an unpublished composition carries less weight than one with an audited statement.

What should investors watch in the Libya frozen assets audit?

Paragraph 17 of Resolution 2819 asks states and financial institutions to support an LIA audit of the amount, location and jurisdiction of all frozen assets. Four details will decide its value: who conducts it, what it covers, when it reports, and whether eastern and western institutions accept it.

The first is who conducts it. The resolution describes an audit by the LIA itself, and the House of Representatives’ committee on frozen funds has called for an independent, internationally recognized audit firm. The second is scope: whether it reaches the LIA’s subsidiaries and the CBL’s holdings or only the frozen cash. The third is timing, since the sanctions regime runs to August 2027. The fourth is acceptance. Both eastern and western institutions welcomed Resolution 2819, so an audit may be acceptable to both.

Other signals include whether the LIA publishes consolidated accounts and whether the Sanctions Committee approves the reported $5 billion reinvestment request.

A published breakdown of the $150 billion would let investors set Libya’s balance sheet beside the $70 billion portfolio it has offered them.

Frequently asked questions

How much are Libya’s assets abroad worth?
Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah said on 25 October 2026 that the market value of Libyan financial assets abroad is about $150 billion. No breakdown has been published. The Libyan Investment Authority reported $71.9 billion in total assets for 2024, and the Central Bank of Libya reported $98.8 billion in foreign assets in October 2025.

Are Libya’s assets abroad frozen?
Some are. The UN Panel of Experts put Libyan Investment Authority assets at $71.5 billion as of 2023, with $38.9 billion subject to the UN asset freeze. The Central Bank of Libya’s foreign assets are not frozen, but they back the dinar and pay for imports. The sanctions regime runs to 15 August 2027.

What does UN Security Council Resolution 2819 allow?
Adopted unanimously on 14 April 2026, Resolution 2819 extends the Libya sanctions regime to 15 August 2027. It lets the Libyan Investment Authority change its global custodian bank within the same jurisdiction, allows frozen assets to cover its salaries and requirements, and asks states and banks to support an audit of all frozen assets.

What is the Libyan Investment Authority?
The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) is Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, established in 2006. It reported total assets of $71.9 billion in its 2024 annual report. Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah chairs its board of trustees. Part of its overseas assets has been frozen under UN sanctions since 2011.

Can Libya use its frozen assets to fund development projects?
Not currently. Resolutions 2769 and 2819 allow the Libyan Investment Authority to reinvest frozen cash in low-risk instruments such as time deposits and fixed-income securities, with the assets and income staying frozen. Erem Business reports the assets cannot be directed to public spending or development programs.

What is the audit under paragraph 17 of Resolution 2819?
Paragraph 17 asks member states and financial institutions to support a comprehensive audit by the Libyan Investment Authority to verify the aggregate amount, location and jurisdiction of all frozen assets. The House of Representatives’ committee on frozen funds has called for the audit to be done by an independent, internationally recognized firm.

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