The CBL was founded in 1955 under Act no. 30 (1955) started its operations on 1 April 1956 under the name of
National Bank of Libya, to replace the
Libyan Currency Commission which was established by the
United Nations and other supervising countries in 1951 to ensure the well-being of the weak and poor Libyan economy. The bank was established in the former Savings Bank building (), designed in 1921 by
Armando Brasini and completed in the early 1930s. The Bank's name was changed to
Bank of Libya under Act no. 4 (1963), On 6 December 2021,
Tripoli-based Governor of the CBL Sadiq al-Kabir met with
Bayda-based CBL governor, Ali Al-Hibri, who before the split had been Elkaber's Deputy Governor, in
Tunisia and agreed to start unification of the CBL. On 20 January 2022, Elkaber and Al-Hibri signed an agreement on a four-stage unification plan, with the appointment of
Deloitte to oversee the process. On 20 August 2023, the bank officially announced the completion of its reunification under Elkaber and his deputy in the east, Maree Raheel. On 30 August 2024, the
Tripoli-based
Government of National Unity sent armed militants to remove CBL governor Sadiq al-Kabir from his office, accusing him of "mishandling oil revenues". Sadiq al-Kabir said that he had been forced to flee Libya to escape threats from armed militants, and called
Abdul Hamid Dbeibah's attempt to replace him illegal, as it breached
United Nations negotiated accords regarding control over the bank. In response, the
Benghazi-based
Government of National Stability closed down all oil fields, facilities, and terminals in protest. ==Governors==