Trade and Payments Policy for a Developing Economy

A great deal of attention has been devoted in recent years to the problems of the so-called less-developed countries. While economic growth is by no means the exclusive concern of any particular group of countries, there can be little doubt that the task of developing the poorer societies is particularly urgent and difficult. Partly as a recognition of the urgent and difficult nature of the task and partly in response to world-wide trends, the opinion seems to be crystallizing that the economic development of the less-developed countries must be attempted on the basis of consciously directed plans or programmes and within a framework of international co-operation. Problems of trade and payments as they emerge in the process of growth among the less-developed countries cannot, therefore, be divorced from the broader strategy of development as such; nor is it necessary to study them without reference to the present and potential forms of co-operation among nations for dealing with these problems. Accordingly, the present paper seeks to explore the ingredients of a rational trade and payments policy in a developing economy on the assumption that such a policy would be part and parcel of a general programme of development which could or actually does command active international support in a greater or smaller degree.