Libyan Economy in Post-Revolution Boom

July 19, 2012

The International Monetary Fund says Libya should see economic activity double this year, compared to last year with its eight months of war. That would push the country's economic activity well above 2010, the last full year of Moammar Gadhafi's reign.

On a busy road on the outskirts of town, a vegetable stand run by Ibrahim Jiuma Garguti has doubled in size since the revolution.

Garguti says people have more money to spend and officials don't bother him anymore.

"The government used to bother us about licenses," said Garguti. "The municipal guards used to take merchandise and harass us. They would say we were crowding the road and ask for bribes. But now those days are gone."

Downtown, it's the same story. There is a steady stream of customers at the "It's For You" boutique. Owner Mohammed al-Saadi's says business has doubled, partly because people have more money to spend, thanks to government subsidies, but also because he says Libyan women are more in the mood to buy fashionable items. Economists call that "pent-up demand."

"Thank God now everything has changed and the country is going forward, and things are constantly improving," said al-Saadi. "The country has changed enormously, and we are able to work easily and follow the demands of the Libyan market and give Libyan customers what they want."

Al-Saadi says there are no more Gadhafi-era restrictions on what he can import, or from where.