In many countries crushing foreign indebtedness, falling prices for raw materials and misguided economic policies have actually reversed development.
For years, elite opinion dismissed the buildup of foreign indebtedness as a trivial issue.
It has almost no foreign indebtedness and is freer, therefore, to shop in the West for advanced manufacturing technology.
The United States' large trade deficit, which exceeded $600 billion last year, is expected to widen in 2005 and increase the country's enormous foreign indebtedness.
The decision today comes as Pakistan is undergoing deep economic and diplomatic stresses and heavy foreign indebtedness.
The nation's aggregate foreign indebtedness is now equal to more than one-fifth of the total economy.
The main problem appears to be the high and still rising net foreign indebtedness.
Yugoslavia's foreign indebtedness is at about $20 billion, and more than a million of Yugoslavia's 23 million people are unemployed.
Party and government leaders were cautious about increasing foreign indebtedness and attempted to maintain a high level of exports.
The report renewed concerns about the United States' record level of foreign indebtedness, which exceeded $500 billion last year.