LIBYA SIGNS FIRST UNIFIED STATE BUDGET IN MORE THAN A DECADE

REUTERS

Libya’s two rival legislative bodies have approved the country’s first unified state budget in more ‌than a decade, its central bank said in a statement on Saturday.

The oil-producing North African country has been divided since a 2014 civil war that spawned two administrations in the west and east. Its last unified national budget was agreed in 2013.

Abduljalel Shawesh, a representative of the High ​State Council in Tripoli, told Reuters by phone that the two rival legislative chambers had agreed on 190 billion ​Libyan dinars for the budget ($29.95 billion).

The central bank said the approval of the budget by the ⁠two rival legislative chambers could help strengthen financial stability, marking an important move toward ending years of financial division.

“This is ​a clear declaration that Libya is capable of overcoming its differences when a unified vision for its future is forged,” said ​central bank Governor Naji Issa, who supervised the signing ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Tripoli.

The two legislative chambers are the eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) that was elected in 2014 and the High Council of State (HSC) in the west, which was formed as part of a 2015 political agreement and whose members were drawn from a parliament elected in 2012.

The agreement to approve the budget was signed in Tripoli by Essa Aribi, a representative of the Benghazi-based HoR, and Shawesh, representing HSC.

Osama Hamad, who heads a parallel government allied to HoR in ‌the ⁠east, said in a statement the agreement represented a cornerstone for launching balanced development programmes throughout the country, “ensuring a fair distribution of resources.”

The internationally recognised Government of National Unity in Tripoli will be responsible for salaries, operational spending, and subsidies, while a committee from all parties would discuss priorities for implementation of development projects in the budget under the auspices of the central bank, Shawesh said.

The HoR is expected to put forward legislation ⁠for the budget, he said.

He also said there was an agreement to allocate 12 billion dinars to state oil firm National Oil Corporation. Libya’s economy relies on oil for more than 95% of its economic output.

Shawesh said 40 billion dinars would be allocated to development projects, about 37 billion for ⁠subsidies, 73 billion for salaries, about 18 billion for family allowances, and 10 billion for operational spending.

Massad Boulos, the U.S. Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, said in post on X that he congratulated Libya on signing the agreement “after months of U.S. ⁠facilitation as part of a broader roadmap toward peace and national unification.”

He said the new budget would support development projects nationwide and ensure financing for the National Oil Corporation so that it can increase energy production and revenues.