The Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Saddek Elkaber, has called on Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, to limit spending, which he claimed to have expanded without regulations.
In a letter addressed to Dbeibeh, Elkaber criticized the pledges that the premier made to increase public salary and welfare grant, among other promises, during in a speech on 14th anniversary of the 2011 Libyan uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Elkaber pointed out that, from 2021 to 2022, state expenditure increased, going from 20.8 to 61 billion dinars (from approximately 4 to 11.6 billion USD).
In the letter, the governor of the Central Bank underlined that increase in salaries and subsidies may satisfy some on the short run, but it will be detrimental to the financial sustainability of the state.
Elkaber urged the prime minister to approve a unified budget across Libya, stop “parallel spending from unknown sources”, support the private sector and diversify economic resources.