Enhanced International Cooperation Towards a Durable Solution to the External Debt Problems of Developing Countries

A/RES/48/182View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 92 External debt crisis and development, published in 1994.

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Africa Debt Conversions Debt Relief Debt Servicing Economic Reform External Debt Multilateral Trade Negotiations Trade Liberalization

What’s in this document?

17 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the external debt crisis and development; 1/

Notes the fact that some debtor developing countries with commercial external debt have been able to conclude agreements on commercial bank debt-service reduction, and calls for the conclusion of similar agreements with other interested developing countries;

Calls upon the international community to explore ways to implement additional measures, including further cancellation or reduction of debt and debt service related to official debt, and to take more urgent action with regard to, inter alia, the remaining commercial debt owed by the developing countries;

Welcomes the write-off by certain donors of a significant part of the bilateral official debt of the least developed countries, and urges those countries which have not done so to cancel or provide equivalent relief for the official development assistance debt of the least developed countries;

Calls for the rapid and effective implementation of the measures taken to address the debt problem of certain middle-income African countries and invites all creditors to consider taking appropriate measures for middle-income debtor developing countries, taking into account the special and critical situation of those in Africa;

A/48/345.

Calls upon the donor countries and multilateral financial institutions, within their prerogatives, to consider appropriate new measures for substantial relief of the debt of low-income countries;

Stresses the need for the broadest and most expeditious implementation of the recent initiatives and the need to continue to build upon them, and calls upon the developed countries to adopt and implement further debt-alleviating terms, including consideration of the Trinidad terms, as appropriate;

Recognizes the urgent need to continue to provide a social safety net to vulnerable groups most adversely affected by the implementation of economic reform programmes in the debtor countries, particularly low-income groups, in order to ensure social and political stability;

Emphasizes the importance for developing countries of continuing their efforts to promote a favourable environment for attracting foreign investment, thereby promoting growth and sustainable development;

Stresses that concerted action by the international community, in particular by developed countries, to alleviate the debt burden of developing countries is vital to growth in the developing countries, which, in turn, would promote the growth of the world economy;

Recognizes the need of debtor developing countries for a supportive international economic environment as regards, inter alia, terms of trade, commodity prices, improved market access and trade practices, and stresses the urgent need for a balanced and successful outcome of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which would result in the liberalization and expansion of world trade to the benefit of all countries, in particular the developing countries;

Stresses the need, in addition to debt-relief measures that include debt and debt-service reduction, for new financial flows to debtor developing countries, and urges the creditor countries and the multilateral financial institutions to continue to extend concessional financial assistance, as appropriate, in order to support the implementation by the developing countries of their economic reform, stabilization and structural adjustment programmes, so as to enable them to extricate themselves from the debt overhang and to assist them in achieving economic growth and development;

Urges the international community to consider wider application of innovative measures, such as debt-for-equity, debt-for-nature and debt-for-development swaps, without prejudice to more durable solutions such as debt reduction and/or cancellation;

Calls upon private creditors and, in particular, commercial banks to renew and expand initiatives and efforts to tackle the commercial debt problems of the least developed countries and of low- and middle-income developing countries;

Urges the multilateral financial institutions to continue to provide support for debt and debt-service reduction packages with the necessary flexibility under their established guidelines, and also urges that earnest attention be given to continuing to work towards a growth-oriented solution to the problems of developing countries that are having serious debt-servicing difficulties, including those countries whose debt is mainly to official creditors or to multilateral financial institutions;

Urges creditor countries, private banks and, within their prerogatives, multilateral financial institutions to consider the extension of appropriate new financial support to developing countries, in particular the low-income countries with substantial debt burdens that continue, at great cost, to service the debt and meet their international obligations;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

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