Dbeibah

The Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said that his government had taken a decision to remove fuel subsidies and is continuing to implement it, adding that it is irreversible.

Dbeibah added during the Hydrocarbons Committee meeting on Tuesday that international institutions, the Central Bank of Libya, and regulatory bodies warned against continuing with the current situation of fuel subsidies, saying that they had indicated that the value of the subsidies reached 50% of the country’s income.

The Libyan PM called earlier on the Fuel Alternatives Study Committee to provide replacements to subsidies for citizens, stressing that any delay in addressing this file is unacceptable. He also stressed the necessity of providing subsidies' alternatives to citizens, presenting community ideas, so that their role is important in decision-making, working to clarify the project to the people in terms of its positives and negatives, and the obstacles that stand in the way of its implementation, in addition to studying the direct and indirect impact of this file.

In its annual report for 2022, the Audit Bureau presented its vision regarding addressing the problem of fuel subsidies, saying that a sustainable solution depends on two options, either replacing cash subsidies with in-kind support or organizing fuel distribution operations.