Libya adopts first unified budget in 13 years after US mediation
Libya has approved its first unified national budget in more than 13 years after a United States mediated agreement between rival eastern and western political blocs. The Central Bank of Libya announced on Saturday that representatives of the Benghazi based House of Representatives and the Tripoli based High Council of State had signed a deal to harmonise public spending across the divided country. The bank described the move as real progress towards unifying fiscal policy and improving the management of state finances, calling it the first consensus on a single spending framework since before the 2011 uprising. Libya has struggled with political fragmentation and conflict since the fall of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi during the Arab Spring. Power remains split between a UN recognised government in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and an eastern administration backed by military […]