SAPs are created with the stated goal of reducing the borrowing country's fiscal imbalances in the short and medium term or in order to adjust the economy to long-term growth. By requiring the implementation of free market programmes and policy, SAPs are supposedly intended to balance the government's budget, reduce inflation and stimulate economic growth. The liberalization of trade, privatization, and the reduction of barriers to foreign capital would allow for increased investment, production, and trade, boosting the recipient country's economy. Countries that fail to enact these programmes may be subject to severe fiscal discipline. Critics argue that the financial threats to poor countries amount to blackmail, and that poor nations have no choice but to comply.