$23bn windfall for new Libya - FT.com

Libya’s revolutionary government has enjoyed a surprise windfall that will help finance the country’s post-war recovery after discovering $23bn-worth of assets that were unspent by Col Muammer Gaddafi’s regime, officials in London and Tripoli have told the Financial Times.

The find – described by one British official as “the equivalent of discovering several billion dollars under the mattress” – is being hailed as a big boost to Libya’s new rulers’ efforts to run the country.

Much of Libya’s estimated $160bn of foreign assets remains frozen under sanctions imposed against the Gaddafi regime. However, sources have confirmed that the unspent assets were found this month in Libyan state coffers.

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