Challenges of Liberalization

India is a developing country, and to make it developed, there are certain rules and strategies introduced. In 1991, a new strategy of economics was introduced that provided a drastic change in the economy of India.  We can consider this strategy as the starting of liberalization. Using this strategy, the Government of India has allowed the private sector to conduct its business with fewer restrictions. 

Definition of Liberalization

Liberalization can be considered the process of eliminating the government from controlling economic activities under the state. By this elimination, private business systems become more powerful because most of the decisions for their business can be made by themselves without government inference. 

Liberalization can produce new opportunities for the emerging markets, allowing investors to increase their business. Diversity and diversification in business lead to profits. We can also say that liberalization in a country opens gates for the rest of the world to trade, regulations, and all the areas that affect businesses of the country.

There can be various levels of liberalization; a country can define them if they want to apply some bounds on the private sectors. Most of the developed countries in the world have already gone through liberalization, while most developing countries are going through it now.     

Objective of Liberalization

Some of the objectives of liberalization are as follows:

• Regulate foreign trades by importing and exporting
• Boosting the competitive behaviour between the domestic and international business
• Boosting recognition of a country in the global market
• Reduction in the debt taken by the country
• Boosting the development of the country by encouraging private sectors
• Boosting industrial development by eliminating the inferences of the public sector
• Boosting the potential economic status of the country by allowing the private sector and multinational corporations to expand and invest
• Allowing private sectors to invest improves the competition in the country’s economy while aiming to improve efficiency
• Liberalization also helps in reducing corruption in the public sector

Benefits of Liberalization

There are several benefits of liberalization. Some of the important benefits are as follows:

• Removal of barriers to international investment makes the country more stable in the eyes of other countries
• It can help a country make an unrestricted flow of capital between nations
• Generally, there is an increment in the stock market values when a country undergoes liberalization
• It can reduce political risk to investors
• An investor can utilize diversification in the business
• Decrease in unemployment

Challenges of Liberalization 

There are many challenges that a country needs to face at the time of liberalization. Some of the important challenges are as follows:

Reform in Public Services 

When a country goes through liberalization, there is an effect of the free-market economy on the concepts and structure of the country’s government. Reformation can be a big challenge for the country. There are various reformations that can take place, such as: 

• Financial Sector Reforms
• Tax Reforms / Fiscal Reforms
• Foreign Exchange Reforms / External Sector Reforms
• Industrial Sector Reforms

Handling the Technical Impact 

There is a possibility that the domestic business technologies are not up to date. This can affect domestic businesses if they cannot cope with the international market. It can even lead to domestic businesses shutting down.

The Perception Behind the Role of Government 

Liberalization is a process of eliminating the inference of the government. By this elimination, we can say that after the liberalization of any department, the government needs to take care of other departments. For example, liberalization of the economy makes the government focus on core areas like defense, foreign affairs, social and physical infrastructure, etc. These other areas are required to be left open for the private sector. Also, the government needs someone to fill in the blank areas after liberalization, which raises the need for a voluntary organization or non-governmental organization. The government needs to meet this need by including someone else.

Increment in the Usage of Information Technology in the Government

As the international investors and private sectors come into the domestic market, they bring various technologies. We find that most technologies are related to the information technology field. In a good liberalized governance, there is always a requirement to increase the usage of information technology. This also helps in coping with a technically strong organization. This can cause an increment in the use of information technology in the government, which is also a challenge related to liberalization for the government.

Environmental Management

As a country lets foreign investors inside, the investor can develop an industrial plan that may cause harm to the environment. The government also needs to decide on lower wages for its workforce. These are decisions where a government should participate while private sectors make them. The government needs to verify that the private sector is not compromising human rights or environmental wellness.

Conclusion 

We can think of liberalization as a process of giving charge to the private sector from the public sector. There are a lot of benefits of introducing liberalization in a country; however, with the acceptance of liberalization, the responsibilities, and challenges of the government increase.