International financial developments

Quarterly Bulletin 1982 Q1
Published on 01 March 1982

Among the main developments:

  • In the second half of 1981 the oil exporters' current account surplus was running at barely one third of its peak in the first half of 1980. The main beneficiaries were the industrial economies, whose combined current account deficit had been largely eliminated by the second quarter of 1981.

  • Efforts by other developing countries to reduce their current account deficit through import restraint were largely nullified by adverse movements in their terms of trade and increased interest payments.

  • The underlying rate of growth of international bank lending revived in the third quarter of 1981. Oil exporting countries became net borrowers for the first time since the fourth quarter of 19 78.

  • Exchange rates fluctuated markedly in the New Year with interest rates once again the preponderant factor. interest rates abroad, and the development of the economy at home, as the context in which monetary policy has operated.

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