THE WORLD BANK AND THE THIRD WORLD DEBT CRISIS/133The debt situation remains healthy. Although growth of overall
debt has surpassed export growth, the ratio between total debt and
export earnings has been maintained at moderate levels. Total debt
was worth 99 per cent of annual export earnings in 1996, much
lower than the 146 per cent average in middle and low-income
countries. (WorldBank, 1997)Yet any serious analysis of the figures provided by the Bank itself,
in the very same report, would have drawn a different conclusion.
Private sector debt had risen sharply in 19 9 6, without any guarantee
whatever on this debt. Short-term high-interest debt had also surged.
There had also been a significant increase in highly volatile portfolio
investment.
When the crisis finally hit, the World Bank proposed the same
remedies that have caused so much human suffering elsewhere and
failed to restore growth into the targeted economies.