The Audit Bureau has officially published its annual report for the year 2024, revealing that the value of the state’s public revenue exceeded 174 billion dinars, while public spending surpassed the threshold of 169 billion dinars.
The report clarified that the year 2024 witnessed a decrease in the value of achieved revenues compared to 2023, followed by a parallel decrease in expenditures from the 2023 levels.
Billions Outside the Records
In the details of financial operations, the report revealed that the cost of fuel-for-crude oil swaps during 2024 exceeded 44.5 billion dinars, confirming that these amounts were actually spent without being recorded in the Ministry of Finance’s ledgers.
Deficit and Public Debt
The report noted a cumulative deficit amounting to 38 billion dinars for the period extending from 2014 to 2024, pointing out that this figure does not include the expenditures of governments in the east of the country due to a lack of disclosure.
It was also indicated that a real opportunity to reduce the public debt was missed. It was explained that a large portion of it could have been settled, reducing it from 84 billion dinars to 31 billion, thanks to surpluses achieved in some years. However, this did not happen, leaving the debt burden in place.
Revenue Structure
The report highlighted the continued heavy reliance on oil, where restricted oil revenues constituted 51% of total 2024 revenues. Meanwhile, “crude oil swap” revenues represented 25%, and foreign currency fees formed 16%, with a total of approximately 27.2 billion dinars.
In contrast, a decline was noted in the contribution of oil resources to budget financing, dropping from 97% in past years to 76% during 2024.
As for other sovereign revenues, taxes exceeded 3.1 billion dinars, customs more than 350 million dinars, while the telecommunications sector achieved revenues surpassing 207 million dinars.
Leap in Salaries
On the expenditure front, a noticeable increase was recorded in the salaries chapter, which drained more than 67.6 billion dinars during 2024, compared to 59.9 billion in 2023.
A significant increase was also observed in the spending of embassies and consulates, reaching nearly two billion dinars, an increase of 37% over the previous year.
This increase was attributed to several reasons, most notably the payment of overdue salaries from past years, the disbursement of bonuses, in addition to exchange rate fluctuations and the creation of new positions in diplomatic missions.
Legal Violations
The report pointed out that the Election Commission engaged collaborators during 2024 without concluding official contracts with them, in violation of the Labor Law and the State Financial System Law.
Under the subsidies item, the total amounts spent during the year exceeded 16 billion dinars, a figure that reflects the scale of financial obligations borne by the state to provide basic goods and services.
The Central Bank’s Financial Position
The report reviewed the financial position of the Central Bank of Libya, where total assets at the end of 2024 exceeded 677 billion dinars, an increase of 15% from 2023.
An increase in foreign currency and monetary gold assets by 8% was also noted, while the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves rose to exceed 83 billion US dollars, a 4% increase from the previous year.
The value of monetary gold, which represents a long-term strategic reserve, reached approximately 60.8 billion dinars at the end of the year.
