Libyan Rival Officials Discuss Unifying 2021 Budget

A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
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Libyan Rival Officials Discuss Unifying 2021 Budget

A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)
A fisherman along a promenade in Tripoli, Libya, November 25, 2020. (AFP)

Officials from Libya’s rival governments met Tuesday in the strategic eastern oil town of Brega for talks aimed at unifying the national budget, officials said, another step forward in efforts to end the yearslong conflict in the oil-rich country.

Finance minister of the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital Tripoli, Faraj Bumatari, and his counterpart from the eastern Libya-based administration, Muraja Ghaith, attended the meeting.

Also attending was Tripoli-based Foreign Minister Mohammed Tahir Siyala.

A statement by the Tripoli-based Finance Ministry said the sides would work on a final draft for the 2021 national budget in the coming days. The draft would be presented to a transitional government that will be established to lead the country to presidential and parliamentary elections late this year.

Siyala said in video comments posted by the ministry’s official account that a joint team would carry out the agreed-on budget arrangements according to estimated resources this year. He did not elaborate.

The UN support mission in Libya, or UNSMIL, called the meeting an “encouraging and much-needed step” and urged both sides to prepare the budget in “a transparent manner.”

“The unification and rationalization of the national budget is crucial to establishing a more durable and equitable economic arrangement,” it said.

Tuesday’s meeting came a month after Libya’s Central Bank approved a single official exchange rate for its currency at 4.8 dinars per US dollar.

The advisory committee of the Libyan political dialogue forum, meanwhile, was to meet Wednesday in Geneva to provide recommendations for resolving disputes over a mechanism to choose the transitional government, the UN mission said.

The forum reached an agreement late last year to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24, 2021. However, it failed to break the deadlock on the selection mechanism for the executive authority despite numerous online meetings since their face-to-face talks in Tunisia in November.

The mission called for “genuine efforts” in the political track of the UN-brokered talks to form a unified government.

The forum is part of the UN efforts to end the chaos that has engulfed the oil-rich North African nation since the 2011 overthrow and killing of ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi.



Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Egypt to Counter Any Threat to Its Water Security 

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). (Getty Images/AFP file)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). (Getty Images/AFP file)
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Official to Asharq Al-Awsat: Egypt to Counter Any Threat to Its Water Security 

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). (Getty Images/AFP file)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). (Getty Images/AFP file)

Egypt has warned it will take “necessary measures” to protect its historical rights to Nile waters, following new statements by Ethiopian officials that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is only the beginning of a wider dam-building plan.

A senior Egyptian official, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said Cairo remains committed to securing a binding agreement that regulates current and future projects on the Nile and its tributaries.

“Egypt will act to safeguard its water security in line with international law and treaties governing transboundary rivers,” the official said.

“We have always known Ethiopia has broader ambitions beyond the GERD. That’s why we’ve insisted from the beginning on a binding agreement, not only to limit the harm from GERD but to regulate any future projects as well.”

He added that Egypt considers Nile water a matter of national survival and would “resist any threat with full force.” Cairo is closely monitoring whether Ethiopia’s new dam plans will involve the Nile or other river systems, he said. “Each case will be assessed accordingly.”

The comments came after Ethiopia’s GERD Coordination Office head, Aregawi Berhe, told local media on Wednesday that the dam was “only the first step” in the country’s strategy for water and energy development.

“We cannot rely on just one dam,” he said, calling for additional projects to support agriculture, which he described as the backbone of Ethiopia’s economy and food security.

Berhe also said the GERD was built entirely with domestic funding, pushing back on earlier remarks by US President Donald Trump suggesting American financial involvement.

'Vital lifeline’

Egyptian lawmaker Mostafa Bakry described the Ethiopian statements as “provocative” and accused Addis Ababa of seeking to impose a fait accompli, despite ongoing deadlock over the GERD negotiations.

“Ethiopia is treating the GERD as a closed chapter and is now openly discussing what comes next,” Bakry said. “Cairo has known from the start that Ethiopia wants to build dozens of dams under the pretext of development and agriculture. But the real goal is to control the river and limit Egypt’s water supply.”

“This is an existential matter for Egypt,” he warned. “We will not tolerate threats to our survival. Ethiopia must reconsider its course before the situation escalates.”

Ethiopia’s latest declarations come amid renewed international attention on the Nile dispute, following comments by Trump expressing concern over the dam’s potential impact on Egypt. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi welcomed the remarks and reiterated his country’s reliance on US mediation to broker a final agreement.

Earlier this month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the completion of GERD construction and set September as the date for its official inauguration, inviting Egypt and Sudan to attend. Cairo swiftly rejected the call, denouncing what it sees as Ethiopia’s continued unilateralism on Nile issues.

Skepticism

Egyptian water and Africa expert Dr. Raafat Mahmoud dismissed Ethiopia’s justification that future dams would support agriculture. “Most of Ethiopia’s terrain is unsuitable for conventional irrigation. It’s a rugged highland that relies on rainfall,” he said. “Even GERD was completed with great difficulty and at high financial cost. Additional dams will face the same hurdles.”

He argued that Ethiopia’s ambitions are driven less by development and more by geopolitical aspirations. “This is about positioning itself as a regional power and countering Egypt’s influence in Africa. It’s also part of a broader effort to gain access to the Red Sea and build a naval presence there.”

Still, Mahmoud said Egypt is unlikely to take immediate action unless a direct threat to its water supply materializes. “As long as there’s no measurable harm, Cairo will likely stick to diplomacy. But under international law, it reserves the right to act if its vital interests are jeopardized.”

He added that many of Addis Ababa’s announcements are aimed more at domestic audiences than at regional planning. “These public statements are often designed to rally Ethiopian citizens, even when they don’t reflect the realities on the ground.”