Trade and exchange rate policies in growth-oriented adjustment programs

The search for "growth-oriented adjustment programs " reflects a widespread malaise concerning IMF stabilization programs in countries suffering from external debt crises. A new orthodoxy is emerging from this search, which links recovery in the debtor countries to a shift to "outward-oriented " development, based on trade liberalization. This paper describes many important limitations of this new orthodoxy. The heavy emphasis on liberalization is ahistorical, and indeed runs contrary to the experiences of the successful East Asian economies. It also distracts attention from more pressing needs of the debtor economies