Abstract:
This paper examines some salient features of the balances of payments of the
developed countries outside the Group of Ten since 1968, first comparing their
current accounts to those of the other main groups in the world, then relating
their export performance to that of the OECD area as a whole and finally
examining the financing of their current-account deficit and the resulting
indebtedness. Despite the diversity of the countries in the ODC group, they
have not generally suffered pronounced, prolonged external disequilibria as a
result of autonomous disturbances, thanks to tight monetary policy and
structural reforms. The policy reaction of ODCs to the two oil shocks has
differed with regards to the financing of the consequent deficits (from
reserves in the case of the first shock; by external borrowing in the case of
the second), resulting high levels of indebtedness for some ODCs.