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Conditionality and Structural Adjustment Programmes

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Eliminating the IMF

Abstract

Conditionality requires any country seeking financial assistance from the IMF to observe and meet certain conditions, which are embodied in structural adjustment programmes; otherwise their requests for loans will not be approved or funds will not be released even following the approval of a loan request. Typically, structural adjustment programmes are based on laissez-faire free-market economics and the ideology of neoliberalism, in the spirit of the Washington Consensus. The Fund monitors compliance with the policy commitments agreed upon with the borrowing country and observes the indicators used to measure compliance. Adjustment programmes include policy recommendations such as currency devaluation, austerity, restructuring of foreign debt, free-market pricing, improving governance, fighting corruption and enhancing the rights of foreign investors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, RMIT School of Economics, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Imad A. Moosa

  2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Nisreen Moosa

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Moosa, I.A., Moosa, N. (2019). Conditionality and Structural Adjustment Programmes. In: Eliminating the IMF. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05761-9_3

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