By Sami Zaptia.
London, 6 January 2022:
The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) announced yesterday that Libya’s foreign revenues for 2021 amounted to US$ 22.9 billion while the government spent US$ 24.5 bn – leaving a deficit of US$ 1.6 bn which the CBL covered from its reserves.
Oil revenues for last year equated to LD 103.4 bn which was equivalent to 97 percent of the Libyan state’s revenues.
The CBL said the government had been allocated LD 86.1 billion for spending on the basis of the 1/12 formula, and that it had spent LD 85.8 billion of the amount.
Parliament had failed to agree a budget in 2021 for the Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba Government of National Unity (GNU) and Libyan law prescribes that in the absence of a budget a government can receive in monthly instalments the equivalent of the previous year’s budget.
State-sector salaries last year amounted to LD 33.1 billion (39 percent of total outgoings) and state subsidies amounted to LD 20.8 billion (24 percent). These included LD 3 billion for medicines, LD 2 billion for the marriage allowance, and LD 4.4 billion for the children’s allowance.
The government spent LD 17.4 billion on development (20 percent), LD 8 billion on operating expenses (9 percent), and LD 6.5 billion (8 percent) in the Emergencies section of the budget.
However, the CBL noted that out of the Emergency section (8 percent) of the budget, seven percent was also spent on development projects. This brings the total spending in 2021 on development projects to 27 percent. The CBL commented that in previous years development spending did not pass the 4 percent mark.
Aldabaiba increases spending on development projects
This confirms the amount of development spending by the Aldabaiba government in the form of roads, hospitals, schools, and some housing projects.
