By Libya Herald staff.
Malta, 7 January 2015:
The Libyan government has approved new spending budgets totalling LD 696,250,000 million.
At its first regular . . .[restrict]cabinet meeting of 2015 held yesterday in the eastern city of Al-Beida, the Libyan Government of Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni, the only internationally recognized government in Libya, approved spending budgets for the Ministries of Economy and Industry, Interior, Justice and the Civil Aviation Authority.
The money will be spent on subsidized staple food supplies, equipment and small arms, high tech explosives, weapons and drug detecting equipment, preparing and equiping prisons, ambulances, fire engines, clothing, vehicles etc.
| Amount | Section | Description | |
| 1 | LD 490 million | Ministry of Economy & Industry | For repayment of obligations arising from contracts to supply strategic stored supply of subsidized food. |
| 2 | LD 171 million | Ministry of Interior | High technology stationary and mobile equipment to detect explosives, weapons and drugs. |
| 3 | LD 35 million | Ministry of Justice | To activate the judicial police & equip it with transport, equipment, clothing for prisons, firefighters, ambulances etc. |
| 4 | LD 250,000 | Civil Aviation Authority | Steering budget for urgent needs. |
| Total: | LD 696,250,000 |
The largest amount approved by the Cabinet was to the Minister of Economy and Industry for LD 490 million for the repayment of obligations arising from contracts to supply the strategic subsidized foods kept in storage by the state and in anticipation of demand for the year 2015.
The Libyan government supplies a set of staple foods such as flower, pasta, rice, semolina (for cous cous) and cooking oil. There have been rumours in Tripoli that the central state stores were running low on supplies and there were fears that there will be a shortage in 2015, following shortages of fuel and cooking gas.
The Ministry of Interior obtained approval for LD 171 million for high technology stationary and mobile equipment to detect explosives, weapons and drugs in order to upgrade its capabilities and enhance security.
The money allocated to it was from chapter three of the Ministry of Interior’s allocations so as to enable the Ministry to obtain these equipment ‘’as soon as possible’’, the government said.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Justice received approval for LD 35 million to help activate the Judicial Police. This allocation is to supply it with transport, equipment, tools, clothing, and preparing prisons with the necessary equipment such as fire engines and ambulances, and equipping members of the judicial bodies with light weapons and other equipment and implements necessary to enable the Ministry to carry out its functions.
The Cabinet approved the Ministry of Justice’s allocation as it saw it as a necessary means for the important activation of the courts and the public prosecution offices
The final and smallest allocated budget was approved for the Civil Aviation Authority totalling LD 250,000 as a steering budget for spending on the urgent needs of the Authority’s general administration and its airports. [/restrict]
