ABSTRACT
Once again we heard that the development of international trade plays an important role in the search for a solution to the debt problem. However, this alone is not enough to solve the debt problem. It is a fact that trade developed last year in a somewhat strange, new way. In the last issue of the Journal of World Trade (November/December 1985), for example, there were two articles on countertrade. It is not necessary to emphasize that countertrade, which is becoming more and more popular, has an impact on the international trading system. In my opinion, one of the causes of countertrade is the volatility of exchange rates and the effects of such fluctuations on the economic relationships of contracting parties.
