Letters of credit (L/Cs) are starting to flow again in Libya, where the central bank is reasserting its control over the country's banking system.

But in Syria, where international sanctions are increasingly being imposed on institutions linked to the government, L/Cs are becoming harder to come by.

Libya

Libya is rebuilding its economy as it recovers from eight months of brutal civil war, according to central bank officials.

One sign of this is that L/Cs for imports into Libya are beginning to flow once more, according to deputy director of research and statistics at the Tripoli-based central bank, Ezzedin Ashur.

Libya's recovery is being supported by western governments beginning to lift sanctions on the north African country's frozen assets, which include US$168 billion in assets abroad held by the Libyan central bank and the country's sovereign wealth fund.

Syria

But in Syria, international sanctions are tightening their grip on an economy that appears increasingly dysfunctional as civil unrest continues there.

The European Union has now followed the US by freezing transactions with the Commercial Bank of Syria, which handles all L/Cs for the regime of President Bashar Al Assad.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.