STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT POLICIES, INCOME-DISTRIBUTION AND POVERTY - A REVIEW OF THE JAMAICAN EXPERIENCE

Although Jamaica has had Structural Adjustment and Standby Loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1977, t he implementation of typical structural adjustment policies such as tr ade and financial liberalization, privatization and labor market refor m has for the most part occurred only since 1989. During 1989-93 when the Jamaican economy underwent the most drastic liberalization policie s, inequality and poverty declined, although there were sharp jumps in both inequality and poverty in 1991 when financial liberalization occ urred. The overall decline in poverty is attributed to the strong perf ormance of domestic agriculture and the increased inflow of remittance s, and seems unlikely to be sustained. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.