The Commodities Problem and the International Monetary System

Graham Bird

Chapter 10 in The International Monetary System and the Less Developed Countries, 1982, pp 224-250 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract There are various dimensions to the commodities problem as seen by LDCs. The first of these relates to instability in export and import prices; the second relates to instability in export earnings and import expenditures and therefore the balance of payments; and the third relates to changes in the terms of trade, in particular the supposed secular decline in the price of primary products relative to the price of manufactures. In a number of ways the international monetary system may help in providing solutions to, or at least palliatives for, certain aspects of these problems. As currently constituted, the IMF can help through the CFF, which is specifically concerned with the financing of export shortfalls; the BSFF, which is designed to assist countries with the balance-of-payments implications of making contributions to international buffer-stock schemes; and the EFF, which provides longer-term assistance for dealing with those balance-of-payments problems of a largely structural variety. In addition, the OF, during its short lifetime, provided financial help for dealing with the balance-of-payments repercussions of the sudden rise in the price of oil imports; and, outside the IMF, the Stabex scheme operated by the European Economic Community provides some financial compensation to LDCs for export-commodity shortfalls.

Keywords: Demand Curve; Commodity Price; Reserve Currency; Export Earning; Buffer Stock (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1982
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-16903-0_10

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781349169030

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-16903-0_10

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().