Aspects of economic liberalisation in developing countries with particular reference to Malta

Abstract

This dissertation gives a broad perspective of the developing process in market-oriented, or liberalising, developing countries, including Malta. A brief overview of the development process in less developed countries following the Second World War, along with the outcome of the policies adopted and the subsequent drive for decentralisation, is provided in Chapter 2. After analysing the struggles of LDCs in opening their economies, Chapter 3 applies the results to transition problems facing such economies. Financial control and macroeconomic stability, it is argued, are the most critical to a successful transition as failures in these fields have often been extremely damaging to attempts to liberalise the economies of developing countries. The steps and their timing that should be taken to change a repressed and state-controlled economy into one that benefits and grows from free market competition are then described in Chapter4. Chapter 5 describes the process of economic liberalisation in Malta. In view of Malta's bid to join the EC, the main issues in deregulation are considered, suggesting that although major reforms are warranted in most sectors of our economy, Malta is on the right track to achieve this goal.