THE WORLD THAT W MADE:

Libya to lay off 400,000 workers (Aljazeera, 1/21/07)

The reforms aim to ease budget pressures and stimulate the private sector, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi told the General People's Congress, the national parliament, on Saturday. [...]

Mahmoudi added that he wanted to improve health and education and encourage the private sector to make manufactured goods of sufficient quality to compete with imports.

Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader, regularly scolds the country of 5 million for its over-reliance on oil, which is the source of almost all Libya's hard currency earnings.

Gaddafi has also said that Libyans are too dependent on foreigners and imports of consumer goods.

"The objectives of this budget are to increase Libyans' standard living by the rate of 5 percent during this year and to promote productive activities"

Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi, Libya's prime minister

He is pushing for more economic self-reliance and private sector-friendly reforms to fight an unemployment rate of at least 13 per cent.

The state-dominated economy has long been enfeebled by international sanctions, old-fashioned centralised management, a primitive banking sector, corruption and red tape.

But hopes of change have risen with the revival of diplomatic relations with Washington.

Realists will be upset about our causing such instability.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 22, 2007 7:57 AM