By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 21 February 2013:
The GNC has announced that it has referred the 2013 Budget to its Committees for further . . .[restrict]review.
After review by the Finance Committee and brief discussion on the main floor on Tuesday, the GNC has decided to refer the Budget to its various specialized Committees to review and liaise with the various Ministries.
The 2013 budget was set at LD 66 billion according to GNC spokesman Omar Hemidan. He disclosed the figure two weeks ago while revealing that Congress had started to review the budget.
The figure is marginally lower – 3.6 percent – than the LD 68.5 billion set for the 2012 budget.
It, however, was massively underspent. Six weeks ago, former Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al-Kib, refuting allegations of financial mismanagement, said that only LD 26.839 billion was spent of the LD 68.5 billion allocated for 2012. Some 61 percent – LD 41.684 billion – remained unused.
The reason, however, was not that there had been colossal over-budgeting but because the Kib administration deliberately chose to clamp down on spending.
A breakdown of this year’s budget has yet to be divulged, although electricity, water and roadworks are expected to take the lion’s share of capital spending this year.
Congress has been discussing the budget since the start of February. It was during a debate on the budget earlier in February that wounded revolutionaries invaded the chamber demanding that the authorities pay for their treatment abroad. [/restrict]
