Rival parties to approve unified budget of Libya

TRIPOLI, Libya

Ahmed Maiteeq, deputy chairman of Libya’s Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord (GNA), and Finance Minister Faraj Boumtari arrived in the eastern city of Al-Bayda on Saturday to participate in ceremony for approval of a unified budget for Libya, Maiteeq posted on his Facebook account.

Maiteeq said that he will also meet with Aguila Saleh, speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, without providing further details.

This is the first visit by a delegation representing the Tripoli-based government to the east, which is controlled by warlord Khalifa Haftar.

On Feb. 8, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced that rival Libyan parties agreed on a two-month unified national budget “to allow for the newly formed unified executive to decide on the full budget for 2021”.

“This is the first time since 2014, Libya has one unified national budget,” UNSMIL said at the time. The mission did not provide figures for revenue and expenditures in the interim budget.

On Feb. 5, Libya's rival political groups agreed during UN-brokered talks in Geneva to form an interim unity government to lead the country to elections this December.

*Ibrahim Mukhtar from Ankara contributed to this report