This book delivers a thorough and essential analysis of current economic policy, transformation and legislative changes in Libya. The authors answer many questions about Libya’s distinctive society and economic system and explain the necessity for the major restructuring of the Libyan economy which is currently in process. The book makes extensive use of previously unavailable economic and social data and thus allows a unique insight into a fascinating country.
Libya has been one of the most remarkable of the Arab oil producers. It has combined an aggressive foreign policy, a domestic political revolution and extraordinary economic growth over the last decade. This book focuses on the development of the Libyan economy over this period. In the boom years of the oil market Libya’s revenues exploded. With the current decline of Arab oil revenues many of the projects undertaken then now look less realistic. The book surveys both the structural developments in the Libyan economy and the experience of individual sectors. It considers the potential for industrial development and the prospects for agriculture both in terms of natural resources and political commitments. The book also examines developments in the service sector, especially banking. Although it recognises the acute problems of the Libyan economy, the book is broadly optimistic for prospects through to the year 2000. First published in 1987.
Although Libya and its current leader have been the subject of numerous accounts, few have considered how the country's emergence as an oil economy created a state whose rulers ignored the concept of modern statehood. This book supplies a detailed analysis of Libya's political and economic development since the country's independence in 1951.
Virtually all economic activity, especially oil production (the mainstay of the Libyan economy) witnessed a dramatic decline in 2011. While there was some recovery in 2012 when the war ended and oil production came back faster than expected, the economy has not yet reached a point of sustained longer term economic growth. To date, the interim government has not formulated an economic vision or plan, and has paid only lip service to economic policies and reforms as politics continue to override economics. This paper sets out three long-term priorities to transform Libya into a market-oriented Libyan economy: Diversify the economy through the expansion of the private non-oil sector (e.g. the services and tourism industries), requiring major changes in the legal framework, labor laws, and business regulations. Reduce youth unemployment with the expansion of education and vocational training opportunities for the Libyan workforce, and to transform an employment culture in which Libyans feel entitled to public sector jobs. Develop a modern financial system equipped to support the private sector, particularly providing credit to small and media-sized enterprises and startups, as well as further privatization of banks, reducing the role of state-owned Specialized Credit Institutions, and allowing the entry of foreign banks. In addition, it argues short and medium-term measures are essential to boost economic growth, private sector investment, and foreign direct investment suggesting the creation of a central infrastructure fund to finance improvement projects, notably roads, railways, housing, telecommunication, airports, and seaports.
Economic research study of economic planning for economic development in a capital-surplus economy, with particular reference to Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the effect thereon of the rapid development of the petroleum industry - covers obstacles to development resulting from geographical aspects of the country, human resources, education, educational planning to meet labour shortages of skilled workers, the evolution and methodology of national planning, socialist trends, etc. Bibliography and statistical tables.
Libya’s economic stability should be a priority for the international community. Although the private sector is an integral part of the Libyan economy, limited systematic information is available on how the prolonged conflict in Libya affected the private sector and the implications for a postconflict recovery. Using original survey data, The Private Sector amid Conflict aims to fill this gap by analyzing how the private sector has coped with the conflict and examining resilience and postconflict optimism. The conflict has profoundly affected the Libyan private sector. The conflict-induced macroeconomic crisis has generated a liquidity crisis, weakening the banking sector. Firms’ revenues, jobs,and production have been reduced and value chains have been disrupted. The conflict has distorted the business environment, undermining the rule of law, reducing accountability, and affecting service delivery. Not all fi rms have been negatively affected, however. The conflict-induced changes to competition, access to inputs and markets, innovations, and informal activities tend to affect different types of fi rms differently. Overall, the private sector shows signs of resilience and optimism for a postconflict recovery. The analysis in the book draws on novel data and other conflict experiences. The results presented offer suggestions for policy actions to address private sector constraints amid conflict and in the postconflict era.
This report assesses the challenges facing Libya since the overthrow of the Qaddafi regime and evaluates the impact of the limited international role in efforts to overcome them. It also sketches possible future roles for the international community.
Since its independence in 1951, Libya has experienced rapid economic and social change. Many of these developments, though dramatic, have not been comprehensively documented until now. One of the problems that Libya has had to face has been the absorption of burgeoning oil revenues, and here the Libyan experience accords with that of other oil-rich states. The country has embarked on ambitious policies based on oil wealth; this book charts the development of traditional agricultural way of life, and the growth of new industrial projects and transport systems. The effect of Libya’s new wealth on its social and political systems is also considered in detail. In conclusion, the importance of Libya’s frontiers are discussed; although Libyan international interests have been wide-ranging in recent years, its real external interests are to extend its natural resource base, for its future developments will be founded on Libya’s perception of its territorial entitlement. First published in 1982.
