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The Pursuit of Reform Richard N Cooper Stephany Griffith-Jones PeterB. Kenen John Williamson and others The Pursuit of Reform Global Finance and the Developing Countries Edited by JanJoost Teunissen FONDAD, The Hague, November 1993 The Pursuit ofRefonn: Global Finance and the Developing Countries Proceedings of the Conference on the Functioning of the International Monetary System and Financing of Development, held at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague on 21-22 June 1993, organised by the Forum on Debt and Development. Editor: JanJoost Teunissen The views expressed in this book do not necessarily represent those of the Forum on Debt and Development. Summaries of the floor discussions following the papers attempt to convey the sense and substance of what was discussed. They have not been reviewed by the authors, the discussants, or the participants concerned. elF-DATA KONINKLI]KE BIBLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG Pursuit The pursuit of reform: global finance and the developing countries / Richard N. Cooper ... [et al.] ; ed. Jan Joost Teunissen. - The Hague: FONDAD. - Ill.. Proceedings ofthe Conference on the functioning ofthe international monetary system and the financing of development, held at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague on 21-22 June 1993, organised by the Forum on Debt and Development ISBN 90-74208-03-7 Subject heading: capital market / monetary system / development cooperation Copyright: Forum on Debt and Development (FONDAD), 1993 Permission must be obtained from FONDAD prior to any further reprints, republications, photocopying, or other use of this work. The copyright of the paper by John Williamson is with the Institute for International Economics, Washington DC. This publication was made possible thanks to the support of the Department for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) and the Danis? Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Additional copies may be ordered from FONDAD at N oordeinde 107 A, 2514 GE The Hague, the Netherlands Tel: 31-70-3653820 Fax: 31-70-3463939 Forum on Debt and Development (FONDAD) FONDAD is an independent policy research centre established in the Netherlands to provide policy-oriented research on a range of North-South problems, with particular emphasis on international financial issues. Through its international network of experts and its contacts in the worlds of finance, policy research, politics, and the media, FONDAD aims to provide factual background information and practical strategies for policymakers and other interested groups in industrial as well as developing countries. Director: JanJoost T eunissen The Authors ofthe Papers Richard N. Cooper is Maurits C. Boas Professor of International Economics at Harvard University. He was formerly Chairman of the Reserve Bank of Boston and Under-Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. He was consultant to the Council of Economic Advisers, National Security Council, U.S. State Department, U.S. Treasury Department, the United Nations and The World Bank. He has published numerous works on a wide range ofinternational economic issues. Stephany Griffith-Jones is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University. Previously she worked at the Central Bank of Chile and Barclays Bank International, lUK, and acted as a consultant and advisor to the EEC, World Bank, IMF, UN, the British Government, and the new Chilean Government, among others. She has published extensively on international debt and other international financial issues. Peter B. Kenen is 'Walker Professor of Economics and International Finance at Princeton Universitv where he serves as Director of the International Finance Section. He has taught at different universities and has been a consultant to the United States Government, the Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty, and the Executive Committee of the Bretton Woods Committee. He is author of several books and monographs on Monetary Policy. His most recent work "EMU After Maastricht", examines the prospects for European monetary union. John Williamson is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington. He was formerly professor of economics at Pontificia Universidade Cat6lica in Rio de Janeiro, University of Warwick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of York, and Princeton University; Advisor to the International Monetary Fund; and Economic Consultant to Her Majesty's Treasury. He has published nurnerous works on a wide range of international economic issues. Contents Preface by JanJoost Teunissen 7 Opening Address by Jan P. Pronk, Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands 9 I Reforming the International Monetary System: An Agenda for the Developing Countries by Peter B. Kenen 19 Comment by Percy S. Mistry 43 Comment by Gerald K. Helleiner 49 Comment by Ariel Buira 53 Floor Discussion 59 II Globalisation ofFinancial Markets and Impact on Flows to LDCs: New Challenges for Regulation by Stephany Griffith-Jones 65 Comment by Mohamed EI-Erian 99 Comment by Vitor Gaspar 104 Floor Discussion 107 III Economic Reform and Debt Reliefin Eastern Europe: Lessons from the 1980s Debt Crisis by John Williamson 113 Comment by Richard Partes 131 Comment by Mario Sarcinelli 139 Floor Discussion 141 IV G-7 Economic Coordination and Developing Countries by Richard N. Cooper 147 Comment by Niels Thygesen 171 Comment by Kumiharu Shigehara 175 Floor Discussion 181 Closing Address by Wim Kok, Minister of Finance ofthe Netherlands 185 Appendix: List of Participants 192 Abbreviations ADR American Depository Receipts BCCI Bank of Credit and Commerce International BIS Bank for International Settlements CCFF Compensatory and Contingency Financing Facility CAD Capital Adequacy of Investment Firms and Credit Institutions CEE Central and Eastern Europe CIS Commonwealth of Independent States DAC Development Assistance Committee DC Developed Countries EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EC European Community ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean EEC European Economic Community EMS European Monetary System ERM Exchange Rate Mechanism ESAF Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility FDI Foreign Direct Investment FSU Former Soviet Union GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade GDR Global Depository Receipts GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environmental Fund GNP Gross National Product GSP Generalised System of Preferences IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IDA International Development Association IDB Inter-American Development Bank IFC International Finance Corporation IFI International Financial Institution IMF International Monetary Fund IMS International Monetary System IOSCO International Organisation of Securities' Commissions LDC Less Developed Country LIBOR London Inter-Bank Offer Rate NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement NIEO New International Economic Order ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OOF Other Official Financing SAF Structural Adjustment Facility SDR Special Drawing Right UN United Nations UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund Preface Against the background of the daily reports on the dynamic developments taking place in the world economy, FONDAD invited, for the second time, a group of eminent scholars and policymakers to discuss the functioning of the international monetary and financial system - with particular reference to the developing world and Eastern Europe. "The Pursuit of Reform: Global Finance and the Developing Countries" reflects the discussion which was held by this group of experts at a conference in The Hague in June 1993, and involved participants from industrialised as well as developing countries. In the introduction of the book that resulted from a previous meeting organised by FONDAD in 1992, "Fragile Finance: Rethinking the International Monetary System", I noted that it is much harder to reach consensus on the successes and failures of today's system - let alone agree on the reforms required - than it is on the system of the past. The analyses and discussions presented in this volume are, once again, no exception to that rule. Nonetheless, it was widely agreed during this year's conference that there are many areas in which the international monetary system is not functioning properly and must be improved. And while present political circumstances do not seem to favour fundamental reform, the opinion was also voiced that intellectual pressure on governments should be maintained with a view to implementing reforms which would move the system in the right direction. "A pervasive feature of the 1990s," said the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Jan Pronk in his opening address, "is the lack of order and, therefore, lack ofstability in international relations". Most experts agreed that one of the major priorities of the present international monetary system is to make it genuinely rule-based, with all countries - minor and major - accepting the burdens of fiscal and monetary adjustment equitably. A number of experts felt strongly that efforts at international cooperation and policy coordination should be more focused
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