The International Monetary Fund (Imf) And The Nigerian Political Economy In The Fourth Republic (1999 2016)

The strategic position being occupied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the contemporary global political economy has made it a prominent vector of economic globalization. Its activities have elevated economic liberalism to an unprecedented level of acceptance by most countries. It is against this reality that this paper examines the influence of the institution on Nigeria's political economy during the Fourth Republic, using contextual-historical approach. The examination shows that the attempt by the successive governments since May 1999 to revamp the economy has deepened the implementation of the IMF's prescribed policies, prominent among which are privatization and deregulation. The position of successive administrations was that the implementation of these policies would eliminate inefficiency in public sector, prevent wastage, revive the failing economy and generate fund for infrastructural development. The current reality, however, proves them wrong. The corrupt and shady practices that characterized the privatization process have prevented it from accomplishing these ideal aims. While the policy has fetched Nigeria billions of naira, this has not translated to narrowing down persistent budget deficit; clearing public debt; stopping new borrowing; and improveed social infrastructure as argued by its proponents. While the liberalization of the telecommunication sector has brought about great transformation of the sector with multiplier positive effects on the political economy, this is with the concomitant effect of high incident of tele-cyber crimes. The deregulation of petroleum downstream sector has not totally relieved the government the burden of subsidy payment and put a stop to the recurrent problem of fuel scarcity. Rather, policy has worsened the inflationary situation in the country with the attendant increase in the cost of living. The state should thus be cautious in adopting socio-economic measures inspired by neo-liberal doctrines as their adoption has brought about suffering to a greater number of Nigerians.