The USAID-sponsored Libya Public Financial Management project (LPFM/Bab Al-Tamkeen) has conducted two workshops on the drafting of municipal Own Source Revenue (OSR) budgets for 2021 in Sabratha and AL Bayda.

The organizers said that the workshop, which took place between 16-17 December, aims to enhance the capacities of municipalities to promote the development of budgets in a manner consistent with realistic revenue projections that are time-bound and customized with each municipality’s context.

The OSR includes monies that municipalities can raise from fees and taxes, the LPFM said in a statement received yesterday, explaining that these revenues are meant to pay for local services that impact people’s daily lives, such as the revitalization of health care centers or installation of youth sports facilities.

The LPFM indicated that they would further provide the momentum needed to activate the Financial Revenue Regulation approved recently by the Presidential Council, which grants municipalities the financial authority to manage their day-to-day services and expenditure plans.

Such programs would also reinforce the ownership of the newly established municipal budget committees, which are receiving technical assistance for capacity building from LPFM/Bab Al Tamkeen, the LPFM added.

It reiterated its keenness for a true partnership between USAID and the municipalities across Libya to continuously improve the delivery of cost-efficient services to citizens under the decentralization framework identified in Law 59 and as demonstrated by the Financial Revenue Regulation.

It may be worth noting that the LPFM/Bab Al Tamkeen is a 5-year initiative of USAID in Libya on behalf of the American people.

It provides technical assistance and capacity building at national and municipal levels to strengthen Libya’s public financial management, revitalize its electricity sector, improve the delivery of key public services, and stimulate job and private sector growth, according to LPFM.