Measuring External Debt

The growing indebtness of the developing countries as well as the rapid expansion of external lending in the OECD countries have increased the importance attached to reliable and timely international statistical data on this subject. Exact data were needed not only to confirm the depth of the crisis, but primarily because only precise data could show the quantitative magnitude of international debt, the most affected countries as well as structural and strategic issues in hedging against debt exposure. It became clear that with a growing number of rescheduling and restructuring agreements — the pressure for continuous statistical coverage will increase and the provision of statistics on external debt will grow rapidly.