Andrew Bauer of Revenue Watch poses what seems at first to be a proposterous question: will Libya go bankrupt in under four years? Libya, after all, has huge reserves of oil and gas, a healthy sovereign wealth fund and a relatively small population, facts that would seem to ensure years of consistent revenues. The reality, however, is far less sanguine. Revenues from oil and gas have plummeted due to strikes and blockades and government spending has skyrocketed, due mostly to the fact the the government employs up to half of the working population, which alone accounts for 38% of Tripoli's budget. Bauer catalogues a laundry-list of other fiscal problems that, if left unaddressed, could drive quickly Libya to bankruptcy.
Bauer's article can be read in full here:
