The news that the Libyan government invested $500 mln with the disgraced Allen Stanford (who currently faces criminal and civil charges in USA related to a $7 billion fraud) was a shock to say the least, when the Libyan government officials so many times assured us that all Libyan assets and investments are in safe hands! that the current credit crunch / economic meltdown doesn’t concern us! But this new revelation about Libyan involvement with Mr. Stanford indicate otherwise, and it shows that our smart boys at the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) don’t have a clue and living in an ivory tower, by meeting this man so many times and looking to increasing the investment even during this unstable climate, when most governments cut their losses and run but no not ours, our boys insist in dealing with these type of shoddy investment firms, so it looks like we could kiss this $500mln good bye, and I bet no one would shed a tear drop for this loss apart from the ordinary Libyan who lives in dire strait and who can’t even get a decent living.
I wonder what we could do with $500mln inside Libya. May be building a new high standard hospital or new high tech. schools or may be a decent roads without the pot holes, or clean up our towns from litters, the list is endless.
I believe there should be a transparency system to adhere to when it comes to spending, and that including investments in foreign lands, it seems no one is keeping an eye on LIA, and it’s about time for some heads to roll to pay for any disastrous decisions so this type of unwise act doesn’t reoccur.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0733086020090707
