As we all know, in response to the balance of payments crisis, a programme of macroeconomic stabilisation and structural adjustment was put in place.
Fiscal consolidation constituted a major plank of the policy response to the macroeconomic crisis; however, public sector savings continued to deteriorate during the 1990s, and even turned negative over the 5-year period 1998-2003 owing to sharp deterioration in savings of the Government administration.