ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the speed and reasons for the rapid rise in commercial bank credit to less developed countries (LDC) from the perspective of both the borrowers and the lenders. The aggregate loans to the country involved were about 25 percent of the bank's capital. It was estimated that at the end of 1976, Mexico and Brazil had borrowed about half of total Eurocurrency credits and eight other countries–Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand had borrowed most of the other half. The Country Exposure Lending Survey reveals that US bank claims on these ten LDC borrowers account for over 80 percent of their claims on all LDC countries, with loans to Mexico and Brazil taking about half of the total. Expanding the resources of multilateral lending institutions, International Monetary Fund, and encouraging co-financing arrangements between public and private lenders are among the modest solutions which have been offered.
