Six months into 2021 and Libya still doesn’t have its 2021 budget. Without it, the interim unity government’s spending remains severely restricted. Parliament was supposed to vote on the bill earlier this week but this has now been rescheduled for 5 July, according to local media. We’ll see.
The approval of Libya’s first unity budget in six years would mark a major milestone for a country which until last year was enveloped in a bloody civil war (MEES, 12 February). Efforts to end Libya’s decade-long political transition are ongoing. A peace conference in Berlin last week urged the withdrawal of foreign forces. As MEES went to press UN-nominated Libyan delegates were negotiating in Geneva to agree on a constitutional basis for elections scheduled for 24 December. (CONTINUED - 126 WORDS)