UN General Assembly
1987

I need not continue, bet us simply say that we have reached the breaking-point, while international institutions are beginning to run out of steam and private banks, on which we have relied for the recovery of investments and free enterprise, are becoming more than reluctant in granting us new loans. Thus we are now bearing the overwhelming social burden of policies referred to as curative. The problems of commodities, trade and development, and indebtedness are intimately related. The reaction of some - inherited from the nineteenth century - has been to say that Oliver Twist is still asking for more. But if we wish to give real meaning to interdependence and international economic security at the dawning of the twenty-first century, let us really meet the challenge inherent in the relationship between disarmament and development. Let us think in positive terms about a common fund for commodities, and let us accept the need to establish an additional mechanism for compensatory financing while improving existing mechanisms. Let us reverse the negative trends of the transfer o± resources from developing countries and, above all, let us admit that it is important to embark upon a genuine dialogue on the problem of indebtedness.