debt burden stunts the growth of a new africa

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1、DebtBurdenStuntstheGrowthofaNewAfricaAnAfricaneconomicrenaissancemaydependonaneffectivedebt-reliefinitiative,writesROBERTCHOTEAFRICAisshowingtentativesignsofeconomicturnaroundafterdecadesofunder-performance.Butthecontinentisstillplaguedbyitsheavyexternaldebtburden.Insub-SaharanAfrica,outputper

2、headisrisingagain,inflationisfallingandtradedeficitsarenarrowing.Thediscoveryofoilreservesortheendofarmedconflictareimportantfactorsinsomeofthemostsuccessfulturnaroundcases.Butbettergovernmentpoliciesdeservemuchofthecreditelsewhere.Soundpolicies-especiallythosethatencouragedomesticandforeignin

3、vestment-remaincrucialifthisfragileturnaroundistobesustained.Fromthedevelopedworld,Africaneedsflowsoftradeandinvestment,pluscontinuedprogressinreducingthecontinent'sexternaldebtburden.Unfortunately,whenitcomestothekeythemesofWesternpolicy,EuropeanandUSpolicymakersseemmorefocusedonthefirstandse

4、condthanonthethird.Thisisespeciallydisappointingatatimewhentheinternationaldebtreliefinitiativeforthepoorestcountries,assembledpainstakinglybytheWorldBankandtheInternationalMonetaryFundsince1996,isinneedofanotherkick-start.Africancountriesarenottheonlypotentialbeneficiariesofthescheme,buttheyw

5、illenjoythebiggestgainsfromdebtrelief.Manyoftoday'shighlyindebtedpoorcountriesgotintotroublewhenfallingcommoditypricessawtheirexportscrumbleinthelate1970s.Theyborrowedoverseastofinanceinvestmentandtocompensateforlostforeignexchangeearnings.Whenthedebtcrisispromptedmostcommercialbankstostoplend

6、ingintheearly1980s,thesecountrieswerelefttorelyongovernmentlendersandmultilateralinstitutions.Between1985and1995,theirpublicexternaldebtclimbedfrom$90-billiontomorethan$200-billion.Thepresentinitiativeaimstoreducethedebtburdensofpoorcountriesto"sustainable"levels.Itisassumedthesecountriescansu

7、stainexternaldebtwithanetpresentvaluealittleabove200%oftheirannualexportearnings.Onceexistingdebtreliefmechanismshavebeenapplied,andassumingthecountryhasestablishedagoodpolicytrackrecord,thevariouscreditorssharethetaskofreducingtheovera