African learning group on poverty reduction strategies : PRSP strategy paper, experiences and lessons from Tanzania

Abstract

The poverty reduction strategy papers represent a higher stage of the policy reform processwhich started in the mid-1980s. The reforms in Tanzania during the 1980s and 1990s were,like in many African countries, based on the World Bank/IMF initiated Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) as a precondition for receiving loans. The World Bank and the IMF argue that SAPs are necessary to bring a developing country from crisis to economic recovery and growth. The SAP policy reforms have reflected liberalization of policies towards a particular type of policy package. SAPs are mainly focusing on macroeconomic stabilisation, public sector reform and liberalization of markets and trade.