By Our Correspondent

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday advised Libya to harmonise its Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) law with international standards and devote resources to its effective implementation.

This is contained a Statement made available to InvestAdvocate following the visit of the IMF’s led mission by Ralph Chami to that country to conduct discussions with its authorities in the context of the annual Article IV consultations.

“Libya’s Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) law needs to be brought in line with international standards and resources should be devoted to its effective implementation” the IMF said.

According to the IMF, Financial Sector development should be accompanied by strengthening AML/CFT supervision to ensure compliance.

The IMF said adequate preventive measures and reporting to an independent and operational Financial Intelligence Unit will help limit destabilisation from illicit financial flows.

“A comprehensive reform strategy to improve the public financial management (PFM) system will be critical to improve accountability and transparency” the IMF said.

The IMF mission affirmed that the thrust of Libya’s PFM measures in the near term should be to address key priorities with a view to building the institutional capacity for more fundamental reforms.

“In this connection, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund system, operating through the Libya Investment Authority, the budget reserve account at the Central Bank and other funds, should be fully integrated into the fiscal framework, with well-defined and transparent rules” the IMF said.

“To help build capacity, the authorities and the IMF have agreed on a comprehensive technical assistance program. Data compilation remains weak and responsibilities are spread over several agencies. The authorities are keen to improve data compilation and transparency, but they need international assistance to formulate and implement a comprehensive strategy” the IMF said.