HC Deb 25 November 1987 vol 123 cc225-6W
Mr. Steel

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps within the International Monetary Fund to make future adjustment policies the same as those set out in the UNICEF report "Adjustment With a Human Face".

Mr. Lawson

The IMF recognises the need to take account of the effects of economic adjustment on the poor. We shall continue to encourage this approach in both the design and implementation of fund-supported programmes. Policy reforms are essential in the poorest countries if they are to achieve faster economic growth, and better living conditions for all. In many cases adjustment measures are of direct benefit to the very poorest groups in developing countries—for instance the rural poor.