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

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda items 87c External debt crisis and development and 87d Net transfer of resources between developing and developed countries, published in 1995.

What’s in this document?

17 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the developing country debt situation as of mid-1994;⁴

⁴A/49/338.

Recognizes that a durable solution to the debt problems of the poorest and heavily indebted developing countries suggests even more favourable terms of debt relief measures, including a reduction of the stock of debt, and encourages the Paris Club and its members to pursue vigorously efforts to improve the terms applied to the poorest and heavily indebted developing countries, including, where appropriate, a reduction in bilateral official debt sufficient to help them to exit from the rescheduling process and thus contribute to the prospect of those countries to resume growth and development;

Emphasizes the importance for developing countries to continue their efforts to promote a favourable environment for attracting foreign investment, thereby promoting economic growth and sustainable development, and stresses the need for the international community to promote a conducive external economic environment through, inter alia, improved market access, stabilization of exchange rates, the effective stewardship of international interest rates and increased resource flows, as well as improved access to technology for the developing countries;

Calls upon the international community to implement fully the agreements of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations⁵ and to continue its support for an open, free, equitable, non-discriminatory and rule-based international trading system that improves access to markets of all countries in order to ensure sustained economic growth and sustainable development, taking into account special and differential treatment agreed for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, as well as technical assistance for developing countries, thereby enhancing their opportunities for, inter alia, alleviating their debt problems;

⁵Legal Instruments Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, done at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994 (GATT secretariat publication, Sales No. GATT/1994-7), vols. 1 to 31.

Welcomes the write-off by certain creditor countries of a significant part of the bilateral official debt of the least developed countries, and invites them, whenever possible, to cancel official development assistance debt or provide relief with similar effect for the least developed countries, particularly those in Africa;

Calls upon the donor countries and multilateral financial institutions, within their prerogatives, to consider appropriate new measures for substantially alleviating the debt burden of low-income countries, taking into account the specific situation of each country;

Encourages private creditors and, in particular, commercial banks to continue their initiatives and efforts to address the commercial debt problems of the least developed countries and of low- and middle-income developing countries;

Notes with concern the continuing existence of the debt and debt-service obligations of middle-income countries, including, in particular, those in Africa, and invites creditors, including multilateral financial institutions and commercial banks, to continue to address these obligations effectively;

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 multilateral financial institutions to continue to extend concessional financial assistance, particularly to the least developed countries, in order to support the implementation of economic reforms, stabilization and structural adjustment programmes and the eradication of poverty by the developing countries so as to enable them to extricate themselves from the debt overhang and to assist them in achieving sustained economic growth and sustainable development;

Also stresses the urgent need to continue to provide social safety nets to vulnerable groups most adversely affected by the implementation of economic reform programmes in the debtor countries, in particular low-income groups;

Notes the high proportion of multilateral debt of a number of developing countries, and invites the international financial institutions to examine proposals to tackle the problems of those countries with regard to multilateral debt, taking into account the specific situation of each country, while preserving the preferred creditor status of the multilateral financial institutions, in order to ensure that they can continue to provide concessional financing to those developing countries to assist their development;

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

Invites the international community, including the international financial institutions, to continue to explore ways of implementing additional and innovative measures to alleviate substantially the debt burdens of developing countries, in particular of the highly indebted low-income countries, in order to help them to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development without falling into a new debt crisis;

Calls upon the international community, including the relevant international institutions, to build upon the momentum gained from various recent meetings that addressed debt issues and to address the debt problems of developing countries, particularly those of the least developed countries, in the elaboration of an agenda for development in order to further promote effective, equitable and durable solutions to these problems;

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

Recognizes the need to assist developing countries to mobilize the resources needed for their development efforts, and recognizes also that debt relief could contribute towards releasing domestic resources and to sustaining their development efforts, in particular their social development efforts;

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

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

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