ABSTRACT
In order to redress the situation and improve their living conditions, most countries asked for help from the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restructure their economies, and almost invariably, the prescription was in the form of Structural Adjustment Programs. The implementation of Structural Adjustment Programs has generated much research and controversy. All the exploitation and symptoms of underdevelopment notwithstanding, the British probably left Ghana in a much better shape than any other country in Sub-Saharan Africa. African countries in particular have been singled out as carrying an unnecessary and excess baggage of price control, overvalued currencies, political instability, inward-looking trade policy and heavy government spending. The central thesis is that the role of public administration and of the state has transitioned from their developmental focus during the independence period to a managerial role under the IMF/World Bank sponsored reform, economic recovery, and structural adjustment. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
