Abstract

The year of 1984 was characterized by important advances in coping with the developing country debt burden. It is no wonder, in view of these gains registered in 1984, that there is certain complacency and even smugness in regarding the continuing evolution of the debt problem. This paper examines four principal issues on which the future evolution of the debt problem depends. First is the influence of international economic activity on the performance of the debtor countries. Second is the permanence of developing country adjustment. ‘Third is the stability of the new debt regime that is now in place. And fourth is the likelihood of the new external resources to replace the decline in commercial bank lending that is generally forecast.