Written by economic expert Idris Al-Sharif
The economic report of the Libyan Structured Dialogue represents a national technical effort worthy of appreciation, given the objective diagnosis it contains of the economic imbalances from which the country suffers, and the important recommendations it presents regarding public finance reform, strengthening governance and transparency, restructuring subsidies, empowering the private sector, and addressing the distortions that hinder growth and development.
Despite the importance of these outputs, many of the ideas and recommendations contained in the report are not entirely new. They have previously been addressed in studies and working papers prepared by Libyan experts and specialists over the years (some of whom participated in the dialogue). However, they did not find sufficient political will or the appropriate institutional environment to transform them into practical policies and measures.
Herein lies the importance of the political track as the decisive link in the reform equation.
The problem in Libya has never been a lack of diagnosis or a shortage of proposals as much as it has been weak implementation capacity and the absence of the political and institutional will and consensus necessary to carry out reforms.
Therefore, the success of governance, elections, and institutional unification tracks is no less important than the economic recommendations themselves. Indeed, it may be the fundamental condition for making them successful.
Economic reform requires a stable and legitimate authority, as well as political will capable of taking difficult decisions and bearing their consequences.
The hope remains that this report will constitute an additional step toward moving from the stage of diagnosing problems to the stage of implementing solutions, thereby placing Libya on a path toward stability and sustainable development.
