Libya’s parliament-appointed government demands transfer of tax revenues

By Moataz Wanees
TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Libya’s parliament-appointed government of Fathi Bashagha on Tuesday asked the country's tax authority to transfer revenues to it instead of the Tripoli-based administration.
The request was made in a letter sent by Finance Minister Osama Hammad to the tax authority to transfer revenues to the Benghazi-based Central Bank in eastern Libya.
The move came days after Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said his government was not responsible for any financial arrangements made by Bashagha’s government.
Tax revenues are a major source of income for Libya's state budget after petroleum.
Oil-rich Libya has remained in turmoil since 2011 when longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted after four decades in power.
The situation has worsened since March when the Libyan parliament appointed a new government led by Bashagha, a former interior minister, but Dbeibeh insists he will cede authority only to a government that comes through an "elected parliament," raising fears that Libya could slip back into a civil war.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar