ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the structuralist phase of Malawi's structural adjustment programme, which took place between 1988 and 1992 with a series of Sector Adjustment Loans (SAL). Failure of the SALs I-III objective of diversifying the predominantly agricultural production base was shown by the fact that the share of the three leading exports in total exports rose form 77.7 per cent in 1981 to 83.0 per cent in 1988. The SAL III Supplement was approved in January 1987 and its conditionalities focused mainly on agricultural pricing and marketing. The Agricultural Sector Adjustment Credit (ASAC) was presented to the Bank Board in March 1990. Compared to the Industrial and Trade Policy Adjustment Program (ITPAC), ASAC provided a much stronger illustration of the Bank's revised, more structuralist approach to adjustment in Malawi. The 1988 ITPAC aimed to make the structure of Malawi's industrial trade and financial sectors more competitive largely via import liberalisation.
