the international debt problem threatens the safety and soundness of the international financial system, the stability of the international trading system, and the economic development of the debtor countries;

orderly reduction of international trade imbalances requires very substantial growth in all parts of the world economy, particularly in the developing countries;

growth in developing countries with substantial external debts has been significantly constrained over the last several years by a combination of high debt service obligations and insufficient new flows of financial resources to these countries;

substantial interest payment outflows from debtor countries, combined with inadequate net new capital inflows, have produced a significant net transfer of financial resources from debtor to creditor countries;

negative resource transfers at present levels severely depress both investment and growth in the debtor countries, and force debtor countries to reduce imports and expand exports in order to meet their debt service obligations;

current adjustment policies in debtor countries, which depress domestic demand and increase production for export, help to depress world commodity prices and limit the growth of export markets for United States industries;

the United States has borne a disproportionate share of the burden of absorbing increased exports from debtor countries, while other industrialized countries have increased their imports from developing countries only slightly;

current approaches to the debt problem should not rely solely on new lending as a solution to the debt problem, and should focus on other financing alternatives including a reduction in current debt service obligations;

new international mechanisms to improve the management of the debt problem and to expand the range of financing options available to developing countries should be explored; and

industrial countries with strong current account surpluses have a disproportionate share of the world’s capital resources, and bear an additional responsibility for contributing to a viable long-term solution to the debt problem.