Evangelos A. Calamitsis

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are both specialized agencies of the United Nations. Both institutions have been heavily involved in Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s they instituted “Structural Adjustment Programs” (SAPs) in which they lent money to African nations with attached conditions designed to promote exports and stimulate economic growth. These mandates included currency devaluations, government spending reductions, trade rule liberalization, and the promotion of private savings and investment. In the following Viewpoint, Evangelos A. Calamitsis, director of the IMF’s African department, defends SAPs and other IMF and World Bank programs and policy prescriptions. African countries must continue to reform their governments and economic policies to protect private property rights and monetary stability, he argues.

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