THE IMPACT OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS: A CASE OF MALAWI

Most of the developing world, especially in the Sub- Saharan Africa(SSA) experienced an acute crisis in the 1980s. The origin of this crisis can be traced back in thw 1970s and can be attributed to various factors both internal as well as external. Like most developing countries, Malawi also faced economic crisis by early 1980s. In order to address this crisis and economic imbalances that followed, the government called for economic policy reforms and the adoption of both stabilization and structural adjustment programs under the auspices of various multilateral and bilateral donors. In theory, both macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment programs aim at addressing fiscal crisis faced by most developing countries such as Malawi. Malawi has for the past two decades implemented various adjustment programs with an overall objective of improving its economic performance. This book attempts to analyse the policy reform objectives, their outcomes and the impact on the Malawi economic growth as well as poverty alleviation.