PDF Ebook A new Approach To Debt Management
This paper touches upon three distinct yet interrelated areas, namely: (1) External borrowing and the development process; (2) Current developments in international finance and implications for Nigeria; and (3) Multilateral sources of funding and the role of the major International Financial Organisations: the example of the World Bank. Each of these areas will be treated one by one below.
The process of indebtedness is supposed to be undertaken primarily in favour of development of the borrowing country. So what exactly is development? I shall not try to compare various theoretical definition and at the same time emphasize two major aspects of the development process.
The first aspect is that, at least in a seminar of this sort, “development” must be understood in its most general meaning: that of the “progress of the society” (as a modern translation of the Enlightenment idea that “the society of tomorrow may be better than the society of today”). In this context, development is a multidimensional phenomenon: it is not only economic and financial, but it is also social, cultural, environmental and political. It also has to be regarded as a process of choice, by the community concerned, regarding the components of the desired progress: development is not — and should not — be perceived as a uniform and homogeneous process of change in one unique direction. Regarding the economic aspects of this progress, especially, collective choices must be pronounced about the rhythm, the structure, the content and the time horizon of growth; about income and power distribution among social groups; about the comparative role of the State, the market and the civil society; about the modes and the degree of opening-up of the economy; and so on. These choices must be organised by each of the communities concerned, at various levels (not only national, but also local, regional and global).
The second aspect is that today, the development process is taking place in the general context of “globalisation”: this context is defined, mainly, by the accelerated relations of exchange at the global level, the emergence of new actors, and the establishment of new modes of regulation. The emerging “world system” is predominantly economic : it tends to spread a more or less uniform model of development across the planet, which would reproduce in all countries the main features of the historical experience of the industrialised countries (these features being in particular : accelerated technology, productivity, expansionism, and predominance of market mechanisms).
CONTENTS
PREFACE
PAPER 1: Rethinking Debt and Financial Management in the Context of
the Development Process by Professor Christian Comeliau
PAPER 2: Preparing for the Negotiation of International Financial Transactions from the perspective of State borrowers from Developing Countries by Mr. Alexander Troller
PAPER 3: The Nigerian Debt Management Office: Act No. 18 of 2003 by Professor Bolaji Owasanoye
PAPER 4: An Overview of the Conversion of Paris Club Debt by Dr. Aboubacar Fall
PROFILE OF THE AUTHORS
Annex 1: UNITAR Seminar Information Note
Annex 1I: UNITAR Seminar Agenda
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