ABSTRACT
Poverty, as manifested by hunger, malnutrition, the inadequacy or even the absence of proper housing, high infant mortality rates, the shortage of basic needs as potable water, and high rates of illiteracy, renders growth an absolute necessity. The close link between exports and economic growth only underlines the importance of foreign exchange in a growing economy. External funds have helped to finance projects in agriculture, industry, infrastructure, social services, and have facilitated essential purchases of items as diversified as food, fertilizers, and heavy machinery. Foreign-exchange-earning and-saving projects are likely to take years to impact in the form of reduced external borrowing. An important issue arising out of a consideration of the need for vast sums of external finance is whether increased mobilization of domestic savings could assist in reducing the volume of external borrowing. The objective of continued economic growth is important not only directly to the LDCs themselves, but also to the industrialized countries.
