5.6 "Is There Life After Debt? An Econometric Analysis of the
Creditworthiness of Developing Countries"

The rapid growth in the international debt of developing nations and the
increasing number of debt reschedulings because of repayment difficulties
have generated widespread concern about international financial
instability and its impact on world trade and the economies of both
developing and developed countries. Difficulties in repayments of
international debt are not a modern phenomenon; they have a history that
dates back well into the nineteenth century. It is not even true that the
contemporary history of debt difficulties began in the late 1970s.
Throughout much of its life the activities of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) have involved implicit or explicit assistance to countries
experiencing difficulties with their international debt.