Four main points emerge from the recently published annual report of World Bank (as reported in The Times, 27th September) s
(a) Although the gross national product of the industrialised countries has increased by some $40,000 million to $50,000 million in the last four years, aid to the under-developed countries has risen only fractionally; (b) The population rise in the developing countries is so rapid that the period 1961 to 1964 has seen these countries! per capita product grow by less than 2h (c) The downward trend of primary prices accelerated towards theendof 1964, making these areas even more dependent on external aid if growth is to continue even at the present snail's pace; (a) Perhaps the most important point shown by the Report is the soaring indebtedness of the developing countries, The World Bank estimates that as much as 40% of grants and loans has to be returned to the aid-giving countries to service existing debts, The total of these debt service payments amounts to the staggering figure of $3,500 million each year, abscrbing anything up to 25% of the export earnings of the ‘developing countries,