Conditionality has been a consistent hallmark of World Bank loans beginning with its Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) that were first introduced in the late 197os after a series of global economic disasters. Since its inception, the Bank has used its lending power as leverage to set the fiscal parameters within which developing countries can access much needed loans especially during times of economic recessions. These conditionalities often have deleterious effects on the economies of developing countries including economic stagnation, the gradual reduction of state support for agriculture and other domestic industries, the erosion of national sovereignty, and pushing countries toward an overall direction of deregulation, privatization and liberalization.
