Libyan families are to be given a one-off payment of at least LD 2,000 in celebration of the first anniversary of . . .[restrict]the 17 February revolution. The announcement was made on the NTC’s Facebook page.
“The Libyan people have been going through some tough times and this is just a little help to support them,” said NTC spokesman Mohammed al-Hareizi.
Husbands and wives will be given LD 1,000 each. LD 200 will be also paid for every son and daughter.
The move was widely expected. Recent growing criticism of the NTC has been accompanied by calls from members of military brigades across the country as well as the many volunteers helping run services for financial recompense for their work. The fact they have not been paid while people in the official armed forces and other institutions from the Qaddafi era have continued to be paid salaries has caused resentment.
The decision is expected to cost around LD 2.5 billion and is likely to significantly affect inflation.
In the run-up to Eid Al-Adha on Sunday 6 November last year, similar growing resentment among members of various brigades in the east of Libya at not having received any financial recognition of their efforts during the revolution resulted in a series of increasingly angry demonstrations and road blocks in Benghazi. But just hours before Eid, on the Saturday evening, it was announced that members of all brigade members in the east would be given LD 500 the next day so they could buy a sheep to slaughter and celebrate the festival.
By midday Sunday, thousands of brigade members across the region had received the LD 500 in cash.
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