Can consumption remain resilient given the troubles of the country's state-dominated industrial economy, ranging from vast overcapacity to record levels of debt?

In almost every Arab country, fertility is in decline, more people, especially women, are becoming educated, and businessmen want a bigger say in economies dominated by the state.

Seventeen Banks operated in Gaddafi's Libya but the system was dominated by four Banks that were either state-owned or majority held by Libya's central bank.