The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) has said an independent report has shown that its portfolio could have been worth $4.1 billion more if it had not had to deal with United Nations sanctions over the past decade
The claim follows a meeting between the sovereign wealth fund, Libya’s mission to the United Nations and the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee for Libya on December 15, held to discuss the ongoing sanctions on Libyan assets.
According to the LIA, a recent report compiled by consultancy firm Deloitte concluded there had been “a significant negative impact on the value of the investments held by the LIA and its subsidiaries” as a result of the sanctions.
The fund was first targeted by an asset freeze in February 2011, via UN Security Council resolution 1970, amid the revolution which unseated Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The restrictions remain in place on most of the assets the LIA holds outside Libya.
“If sanctions had not been imposed and our equity assets had performed in line with the market, the total value of the portfolio would have been approximately $4.1 billion higher,” the LIA said in an emailed statement, citing the Deloitte report.
