The UN plans an audit of Libya’s finances in a bid to help tackle corruption. But, if the country’s official finance figures for the first half of 2018 show one thing, it is that central authorities have a firm grasp on neither revenue nor spending.

First half figures from the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya (CBL) highlight something that Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, has frequently pointed out – that NOC is the only (more or less) functioning part of the state’s revenue collection and spending apparatus (MEES, 2 February). (CONTINUED - 1451 WORDS)