[1] This paper has been prepared for presentation at the First Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) in Miami, Florida on August 16, 1991.

[2] The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and in no way represent the official views of the International Monetary Fund.

[3] The Paris Club is the forum where representatives of the main creditor countries get together to consider rescheduling proposals for official bilateral debt of debtor countries.

[4] SDRs are international reserve assets that were created in 1969 to enable the Fund to meet long-term needs to supplement global liquidity by adding to international reserves of members. The SDRs are valued in relation to a basket of major members' currencies. The quotas of the Fund and members' transactions with the Fund are denominated in SDRs; currently, one SDR is worth about US$1.30.

[5] Currently Fund quotas amount to SDR 91.1 billion, but a 50 percent increase has been proposed under the Ninth Review of Quotas.

[6] The quotas of these countries have been adjusted over time in line with the general revisions of the Fund's quotas and their own individual economic performance. Currently the quotas of these countries are: New Zealand (SDR462million); Norway (SDR 699 million); Chile (SDR 440 million); Greece (SDR 400 million); Egypt (SDR 463 million); and Yugoslavia (SDR613million)