TRIPOLI, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Libya's central bank said on Tuesday it has contracted to print 60 billion Libyan dinars (around 11.03 billion U.S. dollars) to maintain cash liquidity as it withdraws old banknotes from circulation.

The Central Bank of Libya, headquartered in Tripoli, said in a statement that the move was a precautionary step to replace 1, 5 and 20 dinar notes with newly printed currency. The new banknotes are expected to arrive in stages in the coming period under an approved delivery plan, it added.

The bank said about 25 billion dinars of the new notes had already been received and distributed to commercial banks but did not specify where they were printed. Last year, the bank signed a deal with British banknote printer De La Rue to produce 30 billion dinars.

The central bank said it had recently withdrawn about 47 billion dinars from circulation to help stabilize the national currency and strengthen financial stability, adding that about 10 billion dinars of that amount had not been issued by the bank and were of unknown origin.

Libya has been divided since 2014 between rival administrations in the east and west, each seeking control over key state institutions, including the central bank. ■