CHAPTER EIGHT. The Financial System
Article 175. Public Finance
The State’s public finance shall be subject to principles of transparency and accountability, based upon on the following foundations:
- The State financial system shall function as a single entity.
- National revenues shall be distributed fairly and equitably between local and national levels of governance, taking into account population density, local population distribution, levels of infrastructure and services, and indexes of spatial and human development.
- Government budgets shall be prepared to ensure effective and fair access to services and to strengthen the efficiency of the national economy.
- Resource usage shall be managed in a way that facilitates sustainable development and preserves the rights of future generations.
- Local government units shall be guaranteed financial independence according to what is stipulated in this Constitution.
Article 176. State Revenues
All public revenues shall be delegated to the public treasury; public treasury funds or any expenditures derived from these funds may not be allocated for any purpose, unless prescribed by the law and in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
Article 177. Public Budget
The government shall present the proposed budget to the House of Representatives annually by the end of September at the latest so the budget may be reviewed and adopted by the end of December at the latest. The government may not postpone the specified deadline to present the budget to the House of Representatives without the permission of the House of Representatives in urgent and emergency situations. The public budget shall be issued by law.
Article 178. Opening of Provisional Monthly Supplies
In the event that the budget is not ratified before the beginning of the fiscal year, the Prime Minister may spend 1/12 of the previous year’s budget by presidential decree for salaries, general expenses, and that which is in accordance with State financial law stipulations.
Article 179. Out-of-Budget Spending
Any spending not stipulated in the budget or exceeding the budget’s initial provisions, must be authorized by the Shura Council. Permission from the Council must be requested every time a sum would like to be moved from one partition of the budget to another.
Article 180. Loans and Financial Obligations
The government may not contract loans, or become attached to financial obligations, that result in spending from the public treasury, except in accordance with the legal provisions of the State’s financial system.
Article 181. Closing Accounts
The government shall submit the final accounts, as it stands at the end of December, to the House of Representatives, so that it may be discussed and adopted by the end of April, at the latest, for the fiscal year. The government may not postpone the deadline. If it shall inquire to do so, it must support the budget with funds from the central bank.
The House of Representatives shall discuss the final accounts in light of the Accounts Department report and adopt it within sixty days of its submission.
Article 182. Emergency and Budget Subvention Accounts
State financial law shall regulate the creation of a strategic emergency account to face the crises that impede the government from covering the expenses of the adopted budget such as cataclysms, disorder, national economic depression, and emergency situations.
State financial law shall also regulate the creation of a subvention account in case of diminished financial resources for the State, extension in development spending, or increased prices in regional and international markets. Both accounts shall receive funding and shall be spent as prescribed by the law.
Article 183. Central Bank of Libya
The Central Bank of Libya shall enjoy a legal personality with financial, administrative, and technical autonomy. It shall execute its work with transparency in the framework of the State’s public policy. It shall assume responsibility for enacting monetary policy, issuing the national currency, preserving the State’s stability, administering the State’s foreign currency reserves, organizing the credit policy, organizing credit policy implementation, monitoring and supervising the banking sector’s performance, and any other activities determined by the law.
