Page 536 - 2016 - Vol. 40

sale and liquidation for most of the institutions and
government companies to the private sector was applied
under the purpose of treating the economic stagnation by
reducing the control of the public sector on economic
activity and break the monopolies in this section,
liberalizing the economy from various restrictions, opening
the door to the private sector to take over the reins of
economic initiative and driving economic activity towards
achieving the national economy objectives. At this stage
the economy has tested a number of negative and positive
developments. In the first four years of implementation of
the economic liberalization policy, an evident disturbance
has occurred in the national economy performance
expressed by several indicators, the most prominent was
the inflation rapid rising, which reached 166 percent in
1996, as well as significant deterioration in the value of the
national currency clear distortions in the exchange rate, a
decline in the rate of GDP growth to low levels of 1.8
percent in 1991, a decline in the appropriations of the
general budget development to 50percent, while the
external debt exacerbated until it reached about $ 17 billion
in 1996 (Almosharaf and Tain, 2014).

- 48 -