`` The cost is colossal , '' says Abdulhafid Zlitni , Libya 's planning and finance minister . Left behind were mammoth construction projects that still dot the Libyan landscape . The suspension of oil and gas exports accounts for a huge chunk of that , he says . But the government has also been hit by an economic crisis in recent months as its economy struggles to recover from years of sanctions imposed on it after rebels toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year.
`` The cost is colossal , '' says Abdulhafid Zlitni , Libya 's planning and finance minister . The suspension of oil and gas exports accounts for a huge chunk of that , he says . But the government has also been hit by an economic crisis in recent months as its economy struggles to recover from years of sanctions imposed on it after rebels toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year.