TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's
parliament approved the overdue 2014 budget worth $47 billion on Sunday,
drawing on reserves to offset a dramatic loss of oil revenue after
almost a year of protests at major ports.
The North African country is in turmoil as the government struggles to
control militias who helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy
the state and seize oil facilities at will.
Almost a year of protests at
the oilfields and ports have reduced oil output to a fraction to the 1.4
million bpd it was in July when the strikes started. Parliamentary
spokesman Omar Hmeidan said lawmakers approved the 56.5 billion Libyan
dinars ($47 billion) budget submitted by the government in January.
They delay had been caused by lawmakers trying to trim spending.
However, cutting the budget is difficult because more than half of it
goes on subsidies and salaries for a greatly overstaffed and inefficient
public service, a legacy of Gaddafi who put most adults on the payroll
to discourage opposition.
The government put pressure on lawmakers to approve the budget by saying
last week it would start using it after the legal limit for debate had
been exhausted. read more
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