Libya’s public debt has reached 155 billion Libyan dinars (33 billion US dollars) as of this year, revealed a member of the government’s financial reform committee.
Misbah Al-Akari explained to reporters on Friday that many reasons contributed to the rise of public debt, but, according to him, the most consequential of which was the constant shutdown of oilfields and the government’s failure to adjust the exchange rate earlier on.
Al-Akari said that in order to address its debt, the government “needs solutions outside the traditional framework.”
He pointed out that the government is struggling to cover public sector salaries and subsidized goods and services.
Al-Akari highlighted that, in 2016, Libya’s gross revenues was only 8.5 billion dinars, yet the total of expenditures was 37 billion dinars, which created a deficit of 29 billion dinars.
He said that 90% of the deficit value was the costs of salaries and subsidized goods and services.