Answer:
An economy that does not require any aid, support, interaction or trade with the outside world.
Explanation:
The word 'self-reliant' refers to an entity that sustains itself on its own, instead of depending on other entities. Thus, a self-reliant economy denotes a closed framework of production, consumption and distribution.
In other words, an economy that is self-reliant in nature produces commodities for its own use, consumes them itself without exporting them to other economies and decides on its own the pattern of distribution of profits among the members.
For instance, villages in India have since long been considered to be self-reliant in nature. This has led to them being called 'little republics'.