On Monday, the United Nations Support Mission to Libya (UNSMIL) said that the Libyan Council of Ministers agreed to a two-month interim budget for 2021.
This is the first time since 2014, Libya has had one unified national budget. This brought together the relevant parties from both sides of the country to reach an agreement.
They agreed to a two-month budget rather than a full year, to allow for the newly formed Presidency Council to decide on the complete budget for 2021.
The UNSMIL noted that the unification of the budget followed the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Libya’s (CBL) decision to allocate a no-interest loan to commercial banks, in order to reduce the backlog in uncleared cheques.
“This decision will not address the underlying cause of what is known as a credit crunch, but it will reduce pressure on the banking system,” the statement read.