Private Sector, The Openness

In 1993, the government began opening up to private sector participation the country's key infrastructure sectors: telecommunications, transportation, utilities and energy generation and distribution.

The process of privatization has also reached the financial sector. While only a portion of the banks has been privatized, the government has made great strides in the abolition of direct credit control and liberalization of interest rates.

Still, further privatization efforts are scheduled to reduce the large percentage of the economy controlled by public enterprises, representing 13 percent of GDP as of 1997.