ABSTRACT
The facts that members incur no obligations and that administrative costs will be kept to a minimum as a result of the link with the World Bank seem particularly attractive prima facie. The World Bank’s finding that the balance of payments problems of developing countries have become much more acute since the second rise in oil prices as a result of the continuing world recession and the measures individual industrial countries have taken to overcome it finds general acceptance. The criticism can be sustained only to the extent that there is naturally some delay for administrative reasons before the schemes can be adapted and expanded in response to actual developments. More important, however, appear to be differences in assessment of the need for expansion. Not only does it appear to be beneficial to existing national insurance schemes but it also opens the way for integrating private insurers into a comprehensive worldwide scheme for guaranteeing investments in developing countries.
