The Ajdabiya Primary Court has appointed a judicial receivership committee over the funds, assets, and revenues of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) based on a request from the Parliament-designate government.
The government, led by Prime Minister Osama Hammad, published a scanned copy of the court order number 9 of 2024 on its Facebook on Tuesday, with the date of 9 April.
The decision includes the balances of the LIA at the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), the Libyan Foreign Bank, all Libyan banks abroad, and its affiliated entities.
The receivership committee is composed of the accountant and legal auditor Khaled Mustafa Abdul Salam Abu Aljoud and the legal expert Salem Ali Miftah Al-Kadiki.
Last month, the eastern-based government aligned with the Central Bank governor’s call to halt the outgoing government from squandering public funds and excessively spending without merit.
In a statement, the government led by Osama Hammad renewed its accusations against its rival administration, headed by PM Abdelhamid Dbaiba, for deteriorating citizens’ living conditions and inflicting serious damage on the national economy. It also noted the rise in foreign currency prices against the local currency, both officially and in parallel markets.
Hammad’s government stated that the expenses of the Government of National Unity (GNU) exceeded 420 billion dinars in just two years, as mentioned in the speech of Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir, the CBL governor. It criticised the spending process, claiming it lacked benefit for Libya and its people, accusing it of unlawfully seizing sovereign revenues from various sectors.
The Hammad government urged all judicial, accounting, and oversight bodies to expedite actions based on the central bank governor’s letter, holding accountable those who harmed the Libyan people and future generations. It also demanded the disclosure of the entity responsible for undisclosed spending.
Regarding Dbaiba’s responses to deflect administrative and financial corruption allegations against his government, Hammad’s government dismissed them as feeble excuses to evade responsibility, ignoring established facts supported by reality, particularly regarding public fund management.
In contrast, Dbaiba’s government emphasised that the central bank cannot evade responsibility for the economic downturn across all sectors, as it executes spending orders issued by the outgoing government’s finance ministry.
It affirmed its commitment to operating within existing legislation and fully complying with the state’s general budget law issued by the House of Representatives.
