ABSTRACT
The United Nations Secretary-General, in his Report on the work of the Organization/1985/, pointed out that the world is facing "economic changes of such magnitude and complexity that no country can adjust to them in isolation," that "the international debt situation is particularly alarming:" "Many of the debtor countries are now again facing very weak export markets. Commodity prices are lower in real terms than they have been since the 1930s and are still declining. But the interest rates remain high, and there seems to be no tendency for new lending to resume; if anything, the opposite. To adjust to the drying-up of bank lending, many debtor countries are cutting their imports, their living standards and their development programmes to the point where social and, even political, consequences have become extremely serious. Furthermore, the loss of markets weakens the fragile recovery in the industrial countries. There is a strong mutual interest in resolving the debt crisis. However, the debt problem illustrates the inconsistencies which short-circuit attempts to move in a positive direction. While efforts are being made to reschedule debts over longer periods to alleviate the hardens, elsewhere protectionist measures are being taken which nullify those efforts. I see a strong need for a joint, comprehensive and speedy examination of all aspects of this situation, including the political ones." 1
