Eighteenth Report on the Activities of the Monetary Committee.

Abstract

In 1976, the world economy saw marked progress,with production and trade showing growth rates similarto those obtaining before the oil crisis. This favourabledevelopment was not, however, a return to the statusquo. Balance of payments disequilibria continued to re-flect the aftermath of the quadrupling of oil prices. Theexternal deficit of the non-oil producing developingcountries was reduced somewhat, but there was a sharpdeterioration in the external position of the indus-trialized countries as a whole, which moved back intodeficit, and the surplus of the OPEC countries was evenhigher than in 1975.