The Politics of Liberalisation, 1987–94

Abstract

Somewhat paradoxically, Zimbabwe’s economic situation improved in the late 1980s while pressures for fundamental policy reform increased rather than abated. However, the paradox is more apparent than real. The fiscal and monetary policies pursued by the ZANU (PF) government in the 1980s had a negative long-term impact on the productive sectors. Consequently, the settler-dominated interest groups exerted ever stronger pressure on the government to alter these policies. Such pressure also came from donors and international financial institutions, and domestic politics should therefore be analysed in conjunction with external influences. But when ESAP was launched in 1990, the country as a whole was not in dire financial straits. Problems were of a more long-term, structural nature. Many governments in other developing countries had resisted fundamental reforms when similar problems emerged, only to be forced to adopt externally-sponsored structural adjustment when immediate financial crisis struck. In some such countries, governments are perhaps aptly seen as succumbing to external pressure. Although a debilitating crisis, due in large part to a severe drought, was to occur in Zimbabwe in 1992, major decisions on liberalisation had by then already been taken. In the late 1980s, interest groups played a significant role in pressing for fundamental reforms.