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International Monetary Fund Structural Adjustment Policy and Loan Conditionality in Ghana: Economic, Cultural, and Political Impacts
Terry, Samantha
Terry, Samantha
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Abstract
Ghana has, until very recently, been involved in structural adjustment programs since 1983 as a condition of its receipt of loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Structural adjustment required the restructuring of the Ghanaian economy in accordance with neoliberal economic theory with the intent of promoting economic development. The IMF has lauded the Ghanaian SAP experience as a success story based upon macro-level economic indicators that show growth in the national economy. However, this view ignores the micro-level economic effects of structural adjustment in Ghana, as well as the impacts on the country’s sociocultural and political circumstances. This paper uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine the broad reaching impacts that participation in structural adjustment programs have had on Ghanaian development. It argues that SAPs have done more harm than good in their economic, political, and sociocultural impacts and that Ghana has and will continue to see improvements in all of these areas as it distances itself from strict adherence to SAP recommendation following the recent exit from the program.
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2019-01-01