Author(s): Aysar Y. Fahad, Sarin Faisal Ali Jassim
Structural adjustment, which has been advised by the IMF through the number of adjustment conditions for loans, has the risk of reducing the social indicators. The poor population of Developing Countries (DCs) benefit less from these Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs), especially since such policies usually focus on the public expenditure of the State through reviewing public expenditure, most of which are directed on education and health expenditures. Social indicators expansion in countries with many adjustment loans is better than those in countries with few adjustment loans. By the same token, this decline in social indicators will reflect on sustainable development standards.
There is some evidence that some countries have managed to adopt the policies in favor of their economy by setting reasonable priorities and efficiently directing available expenditures. The experience of these countries can be adopted when countries are given greater scope for choices between reform models in the negotiation phase.