The Flow of Public and Private Financial Resources to Developing Countries: Recent Trends

Abstract

This paper provides a broad quantitative picture of recent trends in the flow of financial resources to developing countries. The period covered is the last decade. Most of the data presented are derived from the statistical reporting systems of the OECD and the statistical concepts and country categories used are also those of the OECD. The paper discusses trends in: overall resource flows (Section II); major types of resource flows (Section III); resource flows to different groups of developing countries (Section IV); financial terms of resource flows (Section V); geographic origin of resource flows (Section VI); government policies for resource flows (Section VII).

The Author is an official of the OECD. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the organisation. The figures presented in two tables are drawn from data published by the OECD in its annual review ‘The Development and Cooperative Effects and Sources of Two Members of Two Development Resistance Committee’ and in the ‘Geographical Distribution of Financial Flows to Developing Countries’, issued in December 1981 and February 1982.