UN General Assembly
1986

The international economic situation remains a source of concern and gives rise to uncertainties. This has serious consequences for the future. The growth of production in world trade has slowed considerably. The developing countries in particular are still confronting exceptionally difficult circumstances. The machinery of international co-operation, which could have helped to mitigate these problems, has to a great extent become ineffective. The developing countries are urged to undertake drastic adjustments in the unfavorable international economic system. Their efforts are obstructed by a sharpening of protectionist barriers> a sharp economic decline and an ever more intolerable debt burden. International trade, which has been an important instrument for development in the past and an effective channel to guarantee the mutual benefit of all nations, has been blocked, mainly by the growing trend towards protectionism. These adverse factors, together with a grave shrinking of financial flows, an alarming increase in the debt-servicing burden and monetary instability have led to the ironic phenomenon of the reverse transfer of resources from the developing countries to the developed.