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Abstracts
Panel: Neo-liberalising South Asia—Impacts of Structural Adjustment: IMF and World Bank Programmes
Structural adjustment programmes and the feminisation of poverty in South Asia: Exploring linkages and challenges
Structural adjustment, the development project and the privatisation of state land in Pakistan
A Review of the 2008 IMF Program to Pakistan
Structural adjustment programmes and the feminisation of poverty in South Asia: Exploring linkages and challenges
Muzna Fatima Alvi*
Originating as a response to the economic crisis and economic instability of the ‘third world’ countries in the 1970s, Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) had become a common feature for all countries requiring or seeking assistance from the World Bank and the International Monetary fund (IMF) by the 1990s, not excluding South Asia. Adjustment policies however, almost always aim to uniformly implement ‘free market’ policies and programmes through internal and external changes in the economy (Jaggar 2002)[1].
Women are some of the poorest of the poor in developing countries. Their disadvantaged position is reinforced if they belong to historically marginalised communities and groups and if they belong to economically marginalised areas. It hence becomes necessary to examine and analyze the various ways and processes by which poverty is increasingly being feminised, especially in the context of Structural Adjustment Programs. Contrary to popular, mainstream economic perception, markets, instead of being neutral, serve to accentuate the existing gendered division of labour and resource allocation (Lourdes 1999).[2] The assumption, for example, that all individuals are equipped to respond to market stimuli, ignores the fundamental social inequalities that restrict certain individuals and groups from access to opportunities and resources. This consequently affects their access to the potential ‘benefits’ of a free market economy. Neo-liberal economic discourse also ignores, and fails to account for in national accounting, critical unpaid labour of women and their active participation in the informal sector. Further Keynesian macro-economics too, ignores the reproductive work of women and the critical contribution it has to economic activity and growth (Bakker 1994)[3]. It can hence be argued that that SAP and economic restructuring has affected women, not only as consumers, but through loss of livelihood, also as producers.
Gender finds a place in economic analysis in the feminist economics framework, but its influence on economic policymaking has remained weak at best. Apart from the fact that there is an acute lack of gender disaggregated data, an economic model of analysis that links macroeconomic changes and gender differentials is also largely missing (Elson 1994)[4]. This paper will broadly attempt to study how adjustment programmes have had an effect on women in South Asia and the policy changes that have been introduced to deal with the consequent effects. This paper will try to seek answers to some of the critical questions that have been posed in this area: Given a market economy, can one come up with indicators of gender inequalities that adequately capture gender differentials in a society? As the economy grows and economic policies change, how do these indicators change and respond to external stimuli? How can these indicators feed into policy making (Sudarshan 2005)[5]? Can instruments such as gender responsive budgets, help offset some of the adverse effects of SAP on women?
 *Muzna Fatima Alvi is a Research Scholar in Economics with the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Consultant with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. She was previously a Consultant with UNFPA, New Delhi.
Endnotes
[1] Jaggar, Alison M. 2002, A Feminist Critique of the Alleged Southern Debt, Hypatia, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 119-142
[2] Lourdes, B. 1999, Structural Adjustment Policies. In J. Peterson & M. Lewis (Eds.), The Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
[3] Bakker, Isabella. 1994, The Strategic Silence: Gender and Economic Policy, New Jersey: Zed Books.
[4] Elson, D. 1994, Micro, Meso, Macro- Gender and Economic Analysis in the Context of Policy Reform. In I, Bakker. (Ed.) The Strategic Silence: Gender and Economic Policy. New Jersey: Zed Books.
[5] Sudarshan, R. M. 2003, Towards Integration? Gender and Economic Policy. In S. Mukhopadhyay & R. M. Sudarshan (Eds.), Tracking Gender Equity Under Economic Reforms: Continuity And Change In South Asia, Kali for Women, Delhi and International Development Research Centre, Ottawa
Structural adjustment, the development project and the privatisation of state land in Pakistan
Antonia Settle*
The liberalisation of foreign direct investment represents a major spoke in the broader strategy of the IMF's Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) as well as the World Bank's development strategy. In the specific case of agricultural land acquisition, SAPs as well as the World Bank itself support recent developments in foreign agricultural investment in the interest of increased efficiency in the agricultural sector. Based on field work in Sindh and Punjab, the present paper considers land acquisition processes in Pakistan as part of the wider attempts of structural adjustment to broaden market processes in Pakistan. Land acquisition in Pakistan is thus interpreted in terms of the privatisation of hithertofore state lands, in line with the development goals of structural adjustment and the wider development project. The present paper briefly reviews the present status of agricultural land acquisition in Pakistan and identifies likely impacts on local communities. The paper finds that current trends in land acquisition utilize norms and legal processes established in the colonial era to perpetuate the disenfranchisement of marginalised communities through the commodification of state land. It argues that the present wave of land acquisitions is directly and indirectly sponsored by the IMF's SAPs as well as the World Bank,and that it fails to protect the interests of marginalised local communities while expanding market functions into the periphery of the agricultural economy. The paper argues that these processes ultimately contribute to political instability by undermining the legitimacy of the Pakistani state in the eyes of local communities.
*Antonia C. Settle is a student at RMIT University, Melbourne.
A Review of the 2008 IMF Program to Pakistan
Faiqa Umer*
Gulbaz Ali Khan**
IMF funding has played a significant role in managing the financial problems that have beset Pakistan since its early days. To facilitate a clearer comprehension of the on-going IMF Standby Arrangement (SBA) in Pakistan, it is important to understand the history of IMF assistance to Pakistan. The paper aims to discuss briefly the evolution of the IMF assistance to Pakistan and draws comparisons on the nature of the assistance over the years. It discusses the key elements and progress of the current IMF SBA program to Pakistan that was initiated in 2008. The necessity of a programme like the SBA in the face of domestic macroeconomic imbalances and the global financial crisis in 2008 is evaluated. The present assistance to Pakistan comes with provisions such as tightening the fiscal and monetary policy, improving social safety nets and raising revenues through tax reforms. The programme had a promising start; but, more recently the country has been missing targets to control the fiscal deficit, it has failed to curb inflation or implement a reformed tax policy and administration system, etc. It has been determined that this programme was pivotal in keeping the economy afloat in light of the domestic and global financial crises in 2008. Nevertheless, reforms and strategies to mobilise domestic resources and prioritisation of development related spending are critical to ensure the economic and financial sustainability of Pakistan. The paper argues that although IMF assistance was critical to save the country from financial and economic collapse, the government needs to undertake governance and policy reforms to pave the path to sustainable development.
*Faiqa Umer is a Research Associate at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad. She is a Fulbright alumna, working on issues related to economics and development.
**Gulbaz Khan is Research Associate at at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad.
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