Libya gov't spending hits 17.7 bln USD in H1, 2019: central bank

TRIPOLI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Libya on Monday said the amount of government spending during the first half of 2019 was 17.7 billion U.S. dollars.

"The amount of government spending in the first half of this year reached 24.9 billion dinars, while the surplus in revenues exceeded 1.1 billion dinars," the central bank said in a statement.

It also said that the oil revenues amounted to 20.2 billion dinars during the same period.

Libya suffers political division between eastern and western governments. Libya's foreign exchange reserves have decreased since 2013 with losses of more than 140 billion dollars due to frequent closures of oil fields and ports as well as armed conflict.