[PAA-Discuss] 'Libya's Wall St' cashes in on crisis

[Rick _lux]

From: bill







Message





American entrepreneurs and moneychangers get ready 
here!

'Libya's Wall St' cashes in on crisis 
From: NewsCore 

June 12, 2011 
5:59AM 
 




 
Business booming: Despite major turmoil and an uncertain future, 
currency trading is brisk on "Libya's Wall Street". 


CIVIL war, more than two months of NATO bombardment 
and international sanctions were battering Libya's economy. 

But in one corner of Tripoli's labyrinthine covered bazaar, 
at an intersection known to merchants as Libya's Wall Street, business is 
booming.
Currency and gold traders, who have operated from a dusty 
crossroad at the al Mushir Souk for four decades, said that activity surged 
during the war as Libyans sought to preserve assets, buy foreign cash and 
precious metals in bulk or move savings overseas.
"My phone hasn't stopped ringing since the troubles came, 
and commission has never been higher. The war is terrible, but we're helping 
people protect themselves, and it's really good for business," according to a 
35-year-old trader who has worked at the souk since graduating from college 10 
years ago.


Six days a week, traders holding fistfuls of currency 
shuttle between unmarked stores on each corner of the intersection, barking 
orders for foreign exchange or gold, which in March saw its black-market price 
rise more than 50 percent over the benchmark rate amid fears over Libya's 
future.
Clutching as many as four cell phones, the dealers said 
many Libyans bring bundles of cash to the market, which they exchange for 
dollars, then hoard.
Others pay traders to transfer savings to their friends and 
family overseas using a system known as hawala, in which customers pay a fee to 
deposit cash with a dealer and are given a password, which is then used by the 
money's recipient when the cash is collected from a trader's contact elsewhere, 
usually Dubai.
The biggest transfers, in some cases amounting to millions 
of dollars, come from wealthy regime loyalists, in preparation to defect or to 
protect their assets, traders said.
The expansion of trade in this corner of the market shows 
the toll that sanctions and war were exacting on Libya's economy and Moamar 
Ghadafi's regime as it struggles to maintain power.
While the regime insists it is solvent, the twin drivers of 
economic growth -- oil production and foreign investment -- evaporated, and the 
banking system has been hobbled. Libyan citizens also face an erosion of their 
savings and rapid inflation as imports of the goods they depend on dry up, 
increasing domestic pressure on the regime.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/libyas-wall-st-cashes-in-on-crisis/story-fn7mjon9-1226073690304#ixzz1P0CfwspX



To Unsubscribe, Send 
E-mail to: Charleston 
Voice
 



I am using the Free version of SPAMfighter.
SPAMfighter has removed 9649 of my spam emails to date.

Do you have a slow PC? Try free scan! 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20110611/4292b7c9/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 02_www.news.com.au.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3284 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20110611/4292b7c9/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 690602-libya-conflict.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 66156 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20110611/4292b7c9/attachment-0001.jpg>