A Change in the Libyan Economy: Towards a more market-oriented economy

Since the mid-1980s, there has been a significant movement toward global markets, especially the privatisation of the State-Owned Enterprises. Recently, after a more than three decades of excessive reliance on the public sector, Libya has pursued privatisation of its public sector. This paper explores the underlying forces of the economic reform, especially with respect to the privatisation of industrial sector, in Libya. It is found that privatisation has been pursued in Libya as result of its own policy plan, rarely after pressures from the international lending agencies. It has been embarked on with more pragmatic and less ideological base.