Libya: Business outlook. Check it out:
(EIU Viewswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) COUNTRY VIEW
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
Business environment rankings(a)Value of index(b)Global rank(c)Regional rank(d)2001-052006-102001-052006-102001-052006-10Overall position4.124.3879801516Political environment3.63.677771314Political stability4.44.470691010Political effectiveness2.92.975781314Macroeconomic environment5.87.271521410Market opportunities5.96.24235106Policy towards private enterprise & competition2.32.379801516Policy towards foreign investment4.24.276751515Foreign trade & exchange controls3.33.378811417Taxes5.35.351641011Financing2.92.974811417The labour market4.65.078741312Infrastructure3.54.072771314(a) See Guide to the business rankings model at the end of this report. (b) Out of 10. (c) Out of 82 countries. (d) Out of 17 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.Libyas business environment ranking score improves only modestly in the forecast period (2006-10), to 4.38 from 4.12 in the historical period (2001-05), leading to a comparative deterioration in Libyas global and regional rankings, as other countries make more marked gains. At 80th, out of 82 countries worldwide, Libya will remain at the bottom end of the ranking scale, reflecting the many constraints that will continue to afflict the business environment in the country, notably opaque bureaucracy, undeveloped policy towards private enterprise, poor access to local sources of finance and relatively restrictive foreign trade and exchange controls.
The Economist Intelligence Unit nevertheless expects to see some improvements in the labour market, with the current low levels of skills and technical expertise prevalent among the local labour force likely to increase gradually as education and training programmes begin to take effect. Libya will also see an improvement in the countrys infrastructure, which will ease market access and aid economic development. Overall, therefore, market opportunities, already fairly high, will pick up further. As a result of these gains, and of the positive economic fundamentals generated by a burgeoning oil industry, the score for the macroeconomic environment also improves.
Any further gains in the score will continue to be severely constrained by Libyas score for its political environment, which remains one of the lowest in our survey. The dictatorship of the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, though ensuring a degree of stability, will remain repressive and ineffective in implementing policies.
Copyright 2006 Economist Intelligence Unit
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