Libya Signs First Unified State Budget in More Than a Decade
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Libya’s two rival legislative bodies have approved the country’s first unified state budget in more than a decade, the central bank said on Saturday. The deal, worth 190 billion Libyan dinars, marks the first agreed national budget since 2013 and comes after years of political and financial division.
The oil-producing North African country has been split since a 2014 civil war created rival administrations in the east and west. Abduljalel Shawesh, a representative of the High State Council in Tripoli, told Reuters that the budget agreement could help strengthen financial stability and signal progress toward ending the country’s long-running fiscal split.
Central Bank Governor Naji Issa said the agreement was a clear sign that Libya could overcome its differences when a unified vision is forged. The budget was signed at the central bank headquarters in Tripoli by representatives of the eastern-based House of Representatives and the western-based High Council of State.
Under the deal, the internationally recognized Government of National Unity in Tripoli will handle salaries, operational spending and subsidies, while a committee from all sides will discuss development priorities under central bank supervision. Shawesh said the arrangement also includes 12 billion dinars for the National Oil Corporation, a key institution in an economy that depends on oil for more than 95% of output.
Shawesh said the budget allocates 40 billion dinars to development projects, around 37 billion to subsidies, 73 billion to salaries, about 18 billion to family allowances and 10 billion to operational spending. U.S. Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos said the agreement followed months of U.S. facilitation and would help support development projects and boost energy production and revenues.
