This paper emphasizes on the policy reaction of the agencies and their authorities to countries in various stages of debt-servicing difficulties. Export credit agencies have, over the past few years, been adopting a progressively more open stance. This is true with respect to short-term cover generally and, with respect to medium-term cover, for countries that have rescheduled their debts but are implementing adjustment programs and adhering to Paris Club agreements. Despite the more open stance, the volume of new medium-term credit and cover commitments to developing countries appears to have fallen off sharply over the past two years. Although for some debtors the operative constraint is clearly on the supply of new credits and cover, this is not the general case and, indeed, agencies reported net repayments from some countries for which they were wide open for new business. A number of agencies also considered that a factor behind the decline in both investment and export credits to support that investment could be the terms on which such credits are available.

This paper presents report on a number of countries in Asia that have made substantial use of agency credits, including the quasi-concessional financing available through mixed credit s. Through their willingness to grant comprehensive relief on a case-by-case basis, official creditors have responded flexibly to the needs of individual countries. The ability of export credit agencies to also provide substantial new financing to rescheduling countries has depended on the strategy of debt subordination achieved through fixing cutoff dates. As to the role of export credits at present, when the debt strategy’s continuing emphasis on new money flows is being supplemented by debt reduction, the debt subordination strategy followed by export credit agencies has left them well positioned to provide necessary new financing for middle-income countries pursuing strong adjustment. In heavily indebted low income countries, whose needs for project finance should most appropriately be met by concessional finance, export credit agencies continue to play an important role in supporting essential short-term credits.

This study discusses the importance of export credits, their recent growth, and the trend toward more extensive reliance by official bilateral creditors on export credits as an instrument of financial support, and raises a number of issues regarding the role and limitations of export credit financing, espeically for economies in transition.

This paper presents the annual survey of international capital market developments and prospects. It summarizes recent developments in capital market flows and asset prices, including the initial impact of the Middle East crisis, and reviews the main ongoing structural changes in financial markets. A sharp fall in net investment in foreign securities by Japanese institutions in 1990, in the face of narrowing interest rate differentials and, in some cases, the need to cover losses stemming from the fall in the Japanese stock market. In contrast, the importance of net direct investment outflows as a counterpart to the current account surplus began increasing as from 1989. The crisis in the Middle East resulted in a further tightening of market conditions, especially for less creditworthy borrowers. A general preference for safer and more liquid financial instruments was reflected in increased spreads between corporate and government securities on national markets and between private sector Eurobonds and government securities denominated in the same currency on international markets.

This paper highlights that the growth of world economic activity in 1991 is expected to fall to a scant 1 percent, the lowest in any year since 1982, when the industrial economies were in recession. The slowdown in the expansion of world trade would be considerably more pronounced. Output growth in the industrial countries as a group is expected to average 11⁄4 percent in 1991, reflecting a fall in economic activity in a number of countries. Cyclical divergences among the major countries persisted in the first half of 1991.

First published in 1999. This study starts with the reasons underlying that apparent bias of loan agreements to which developing country borrowers were parties and then develops to look at the issue of the potential benefits of having documentation evidencing developing country indebtedness provide for contractual relief for borrowers in case of adverse changes in circumstances.

This paper highlights that world economic activity showed signs of revival in the first half of 1992 as some major economies slowly began to emerge from the cyclical downturns of 1990–91. During the next 12 months, world growth is expected to continue to recover at a moderate pace. Following stagnation in 1991, world output is projected to expand by 1 percent in 1992 and by 3 percent in 1993, close to the average growth rate during the past two decades.