"There are gold reserves worth 10 billion dollars in Tripoli. Now that he is on the run, Qadhafi could have taken some of that gold," Bengdara said in the interview with the Corriere della Sera daily.

"I'm sure he's now trying to pay and corrupt tribes or militiamen for his protection and to sow chaos," said the banker, who deserted the regime several months ago to join the rebels.

According to Bengdara, Qadhafi had previously "desperately" tried to sell the gold and regime allies had contacted one of the banker's friends "a short time ago," offering to sell him 25 tonnes of gold.

"I advised him to refuse and my friend immediately turned the offer down, but it's a clear indicator," he added.

Bengdara said Libya currently "needs between five and seven billion dollars to restart the banking system, pay salaries for people who start going back to work, and pay for imports which represent 80 percent of national consumption."

"We do not need donors, Libya is a rich country," he said, adding that the state assets -- including the Central Bank, the Sovereign Wealth Fund and gold reserves -- "are worth 168 billion dollars."

While Libya's rebels fight pockets of resistance from Qadhafi forces, the elusive strongman's whereabouts are still unknown.

Bengdara said he believed the 69-year-old, who has not been seen in public for weeks, had escaped Tripoli and could be heading towards the Algerian border.