A sudden and radical reversal of financial flows to developing countries has occurred since 1982. Controversy exists, however, as to the scale of the actual outflow of resources and as to whether too much emphasis has been placed in the past on adjustment efforts. The following article attempts...

While the external debt of the least developed countries (LLDCs) is no threat to the international financial system, its adverse impact on the development efforts of many of these countries is severe. The following article examines their debt and economic situation and reviews major elements of...

Africa's total debt outstanding, which doubled during the 1980s, represents a serious threat to the continent's prospects of economic recovery and long-term development. Professor Ezenwe examines the situation in detail and proposes policy action towards a solution.

So far, it has been possible to stave off really serious consequences for the world economy and the international financial system since the developing-country debt crisis started in 1982. Yet for many developing countries, external debt problems and the underlying economic crisis are as...

The disappointing response to the Mexican debt-swap initiative has shown that financial innovations cannot be relied on solely to reduce the debt burden to levels that reestablish the creditworthiness of major debtors. The following article examines the conventional approach to solving the debt...

A fundamental change is emerging in the World Bank's perception of the problems of the debt overhang and in its ideas for development strategies. The author examines the implications for debtor countries.