loans were easy to obtain. Between 1978 and 1983, Nigeria's long-term public debt grew from $1 billion to nearly $13 billion. But oil prices fell dramatically, and Nigeria's oil export earnings fell from $23.4 billion in 1980 to less than $10 billion in 1983.?FN1Nils Borje Tallroth, "Structural Adjustments in Nigeria," ?MDUL?Finance & Development?MDNM?, Vol. 24, No. 3. (September, 1987) p. 20.
The debt burden created inflationary pressures, and the government allowed its currency, the ?MDUL?naria?MDNM?, to appreciate to help reduce the cost of necessary imports. Within a few years the currency was significantly overvalued. While this helped to cool inflation by making imports cheaper, it made domestic items more expensive and cut deeply into demand. Local production declined and unemployment increased as producers found themselves unable to compete with the cheap imports. Agriculture was particularly hard hit. Agricultural exports could not compete in the world markets, because the overvalued naria priced them out of the market. Agri-cultural exports fell, and within a few years Nigeria "became a major food importer."?FN1Ibid.
By 1983, Nigeria's current account deficit (a measure of exports minus imports) reached $3 billion. The nation needed export revenues to meet its debt payments, but the surge in imports was only adding to the problem. Entirely new policies would be needed to encourage exports, reduce imports, and stimulate the domestic economy.
Acting on advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in 1986 the government introduced a Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) which has been called "one of the m
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