Developing Countries and Debt

22. The performance of developing countries is increasingly important to the world economy. Central to the prospects of the developing countries are a healthy global economic environment and an open trading system, adequate financial flows and, most important, their commitment to appropriate economic reform. The problems of many heavilyindebted developing countries are a cause of economic and political concern and can be a threat to political stability in developing countries. Several countries find themselves in that situation in various regions of the world: Latin America, Africa and the Pacific, particularly the Philippines, and that merits our special attention.

MiddleIncome Countries

23. A number of highlyindebted middleincome countries continue to have difficulties servicing their external debt and generating the investment necessary for sustainable growth. The marketoriented, growthled strategy based on the casebycase approach remains the only viable approach for overcoming their external debt problems.

24. We are encouraged that many indebted countries have begun the difficult process of macroeconomic adjustment and structural reform necessary for sustained progress, encouraging the return of flight capital and new investment flows. The success of these efforts is essential for improving the economic performance and strengthening the creditworthiness of these countries.

25. Official financing has played a central role in the debt strategy through the Paris Club (U.S. $73 billion of principal and interest have been consolidated since 1983) and the flexible policies of export credit agencies. The international financial institutions will continue to have a pivotal role. We endorse the recent initiatives taken by the International Monetary Fund to strengthen its capacity to support mediumterm programs of macroeconomic adjustment and structural reform, and to provide greater protection for adjustment programs from unforeseen external developments. We strongly support the full implementation of the World Bank's U.S. $75 billion General Capital Increase to strengthen its capacity to promote adjustment in middleincome countries. We also support greater awareness by international financial institutions of the environmental impact of their development programs.

26. Commercial banks have played an important role in supporting debtor countries' reform efforts through an expanded menu of financing options which has facilitated the channeling of commercial bank lending into productive uses. Their continued involvement is indispensable to the debt strategy. In this regard, the World Bank and IMF can play an important catalytic role in mobilizing additional financing from private (and official) sources in support of debtor countries' adjustment programs.

27. We note that in recent years there has been increasing recourse to innovative financing techniques. The important characteristics of these techniques are that they are voluntary, marketoriented, and applied on a casebycase basis. The "menu approach" has engendered new financial flows and, in some cases, reduced the existing stock of debt. The flexibility of the present strategy would be enhanced by the further broadening of the menu approach and the encouragement of innovative financing techniques to improve the quality of new lending, but particular initiatives would have to be carefully considered.

28. International direct investment plays an important role in spurring economic growth and structural adjustment in developing countries. Thus it contributes to alleviating debt problems. Developing countries should welcome and encourage such investment by creating a favorable investment climate.

Debt of the Poorest

29. An increase in concessional resource flows is necessary to help the poorest developing countries resume sustained growth, especially in cases where it is extremely difficult for them to service their debts. Since Venice, progress in dealing with the debt burden of these countries has been encouraging. Paris Club creditors are rescheduling debt at extended grace and repayment periods. In addition, the recent enhancement of the IMF's Structural Adjustment Facility; the World Bank and Official Development Assistance (ODA) agencies' enhanced program of cofinancing; and the fifth replenishment of the African Development Fund will mobilize a total of more than U.S. $18 billion in favor of the poorest and most indebted countries undertaking adjustment efforts over the period 1988/90. Out of this total, U.S. $15 billion will be channeled to SubSaharan African countries.

30. We welcome proposals made by several of us to ease further the debt service burdens of the poorest countries that are undertaking internationally-approved adjustment programs. We have achieved consensus on rescheduling official debt of these countries within a framework of comparability that allows official creditors to choose among concessional interest rates usually on shorter maturities, longer repayment periods at commercial rates, partial writeoffs of debt service obligations during the consolidation period, or a combination of these options. This approach allows official creditors to choose options consistent with their legal or budgetary constraints. The Paris Club has been urged to work out necessary technicalities to ensure comparability by the end of this year at the very latest. This approach will provide benefits over and above the impressive multilateral agreements to help the poorest countries over the past year. We also welcome the action taken by a number of creditor governments to writeoff or otherwise remove the burden of ODA loans, and also urge countries to maintain a high grant element in their future assistance to the poorest.

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