The Libyan Audit Bureau issued on Tuesday its annual report for 2021 on the financial ins and outs of the Libyan state and government institutions and entities, unveiling a jaw-dropping amount of financial corruption within lots of state institutions.
Revenue and Expenditure
The Audit Bureau said in the report that the revenues of 2021 exceeded 105 billion dinars for the first time in the country’s history, while expenditures hit about 86 billion dinars, with a surplus of 19.7 billion, adding that the state’s oil revenues during 2021 amounted to 22.9 billion dollars, and the demand for foreign exchange exceeded the state’s oil revenues.
According to the report, the deficit in 2021 amounted to 1.6 billion dollars due to foreign transfers by the Central Bank of Libya, which reached more than 24 billion dinars. Revenues of 2021 were not the result of income growth, but rather due to the Central Bank of Libya’s devaluation of the dinar against foreign currencies.
GNU, PC, HCS, and HoR’s Spending
The Audit Bureau also explained that the funds transferred to the House of Representatives (HoR) in 2021 exceeded 507 million dinars out of 694 million allocated to the HoR in general, while more than 10 million dinars were liquidated to the High Council of State (HCS) in the same year out of its allocated budget of 15 million.
The report indicated that the expenses of the Presidential Council (PC) in 2021 and its affiliated entities amounted to approximately 320 million dinars out of 406 million allocated to it, while the Government of National Unity’s Council of Ministers (Prime Minister’s cabinet) spent in 2021 amore than 496 million dinars out of 600 million’s budget.
Libya’s Electricity Company
The Audit Bureau said the contracts of the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) in 2021 exceeded 16 billion dinars, saying it spent more than 1.5 billion dinars on several projects. It also said that the amounts liquidated to GECOL as a subsidy in 2021 exceeded 800 million dinars.
Craze for Spending
The Audit Bureau’s report unveiled some lines of financial corruption and exaggerated spending in different state institutions, including 500.000 dinars a month for the daily three meals at the GNU’s Prime Minister’s council, and a staggering 1.2 million dinars in one month (November 2021) for catering and cleaning at the suite of the Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
GNU’s Prime Minister Dbeibah gave luxurious watches as gifts worth 12 million dinars to his guests. Awqaf (Endowment) and Islamic Affairs Authority spent 700.000 dinars for buying traditional costumes, not to mention a number of other violations reported in the lengthy 2021 report of the Audit Bureau.
