Abdallah Gaderbo, the head of the increasingly active and bold state sector watchdog, the Administrative Control Authority (ACA), held a meeting last Sunday (26 January) at his Tripoli headquarters with the Chairman of the Finance Committee of (parliament) the House of Representatives (HoR), the Ministers of Finance, Labour and Rehabilitation, Planning, Civil Service and Higher Education and Scientific Research.
The meeting, a section of which was recorded and posted on social media by the ACA, was to discuss the decision (Circular No. (1) of 2025) by the ACA head on 15 January to freeze new state sector job appointments and the issue of new state-paid domestic and overseas education scholarships.
State sector salaries could total LD 100 billion in 2026
On state sector jobs, the ACA head said during the meeting that, according to the data available, the state sector salaries section of the state budget (currently at LD 67.6 bn) will reach 100 billion dinars next year and, therefore, public sector spending must be controlled.
It will be recalled that Libya’s total state budget for 2024 had amounted to 123.5 billion dinars, according to Central Bank of Libya (CBL) statistics.
40,000 university graduates are not employed by the state
He said he put a freeze on new state sector appointments because appointments had reached frightening numbers and that there are 40,000 university graduates who were not employed or benefited by the state.
The ACA head said the Libyan state had spent 845 billion dinars from 2011 to 2024 yet there are projects that have been suspended since 2011 worth 200 billion dollars and the state is unable to implement them.
Nepotism rather than meritocracy
The Minister of Financial, meanwhile, complained that Ministers employed their relatives and not unrelated citizens, adding that employment standards need to be set to ensure social justice.
He revealed that scholarship decisions have included an entire family of seven brothers and a person with all his four wives being sent abroad in one scholarship decision.
The Minister of Finance revealed that he had received employment contracts in the education sector written in pencil. He confirmed that state salaries today amount to 67 billion dinars and tomorrow they will be 70 billion and then 80 billion until 100 billion is reached in state sector salaries only.
CBL loan needed to pay the 2024 LD 67 bn state sector salaries
The Minister of Finance stressed that the Libyan state does not have the ability to cover salaries if they reach LD 100 billion and that the LD 67 billion salaries of 2024 were only paid with a loan from the CBL.
The Minister of Higher Education, on the other hand, went against the sentiment in the meeting, saying that, as far as his department were concerned, there is no inflation in the number of scholarships abroad. He insisted that all students sent abroad met the requirements and are committed to their studies.
Working for the state has become a culture
For his part, the Minister of Labour and Rehabilitation added that job appointments in the state have become a culture for university graduates and that they do not accept working in the private sector. He revealed that there are private companies and factories that employ workers with a salary of 1,000 dinars and in return for a low salary offer them simultaneous appointments in the state sector.
Suspend oversupplied degrees at universities
The Labour Minister said there are foreigners working in jobs that are prohibited to them, including the job of accountant and administrator. He revealed that there are more than 12 thousand job seekers in dentistry and pharmacy and called for the Ministry of Higher Education to suspend new intakes at universities for six years to allow the labour market to absorb them.
Outcomes of the meeting:
Formation of a joint “Higher Employment Committee”
The meeting concluded by reaching an agreement to form two joint committees.
Firstly, a joint “Higher Employment Committee” between the Ministries of Finance, Labour and Rehabilitation, Higher Education and Scientific Research, and Civil Service.
This will be responsible for proposing policies, developing strategies, plans and employment programmes. It will also take the necessary measures to implement the general policy in the field of labour and civil service. It will prepare annual budget proposals for functional cadres in the government and its administrative units and study the needs of the labour market of national and foreign labour in all fields.
Formation of the “Higher Committee for Academic Delegation”
The second committee will be the joint “Higher Committee for Academic Scholarship” made up of the Ministries of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Finance, Labour and Rehabilitation, and Civil Service.
This will be responsible for studying and reviewing previous academic delegation decisions to determine their conformity with the correct legislation or not, and to monitor scholarship students whose scholarship period has expired without complying with the provisions of the governing regulations. The committee will also propose national executive strategies and plans for the implementation of postgraduate studies, whether at home or abroad, and the numbers targeted for scholarships based on the needs of government sectors.
ACA orders pretrial detention of LARMO head for causing damage to the state and its funds
LARMO head suspended by ACA for reasons of public interest
ACA suspends appointment of new state sector jobs and state scholarships
ACA orders pretrial detention of LARMO head for causing damage to the state and its funds
LARMO head suspended by ACA for reasons of public interest
