World Bank Document

eporting country. These estimates were compiled equipment and it is therefore excluded from their
primarily from IMF data files.
data.
Gross international reserves comprise holdings of
monetary gold, special drawing rights (SDRs), the Table 16. External public debt and
reserve position of IMF members in the Fund, and debt service ratio
holdings of foreign exchange under the control of
monetary authorities. The data on holdings of External public debt outstanding and disbursed repreinternational
reserves are from IMF data files. The sents the amount of public and publicly guarangold
component of these reserves is valued teed loans that has been disbursed, net of repaythroughout
at year-end London prices: that is,'
$37.37uanhouncatyeariend1 aondo$381.50 an: o in ments of principal and write-offs at year-end. For
$37.37 an ounce in 1970 and $381.50 an ounce in estimating external public debt as a percentage of
1983. The reserve levels for 1970 and 1983 refer to GNP, the debt figures were converted into US dolthe
end of the year indicated and are in current lars from currencies of repayment at end-of-year
dollars at prevailing exchange rates. Due to differ- official exchange rates. However, GNP was conences
in the definition of international reserves, in verted from national currencies to US dollars by
the valuation of gold, and in reserve management applying the conversion procedure described in
practices, the levels of reserve holdings published
in national sources do not have strictly comparable mary measures are weighted by GNP in current
significance. Reserve holdings at the end of 1983 dollars u
are also expressed in terms of the number of dlas
Interest payments are those on the disbursed and
months of imports of goods and services they o a p
could pay for, with imports at the average level for ou fstnin public andpl granere deb
1982 or 1983. The summary measures are weighted include commitment charges on undisbursed debt
by imports of goods and services in current dol- if information on those charges was avaiable.
lars.
)Debt service is the sum of interest payments and
Table 15. Flow of public and publicly guaranteed repayments of principal on external public and
external capital
publicly guaranteed debt. The ratio of debt service
to exports of goods and services is one of several
The data on debt in this and successive tables are conventional measures used to assess the ability to
from the World Bank Debtor Reporting System. service debt. The average ratios of debt service to
That system is concerned solely with developing GNP for the economy groups are weighted by
economies and does not collect data on external GNP in current dollars. (See above for the GNP
debt for other groups of borrowers. Nor are cam- conversion.) The average ratios of debt service to
prehensive comparable data available from other exports of goods and services are weighted by
sources. The dollar figures on debt shown in exports of goods and services in current dollars.
Tables 15 through 17 are in US dollars converted at
official exchange rates.
Table 17. Terms of public borrowing
Data on the gross inflow and repayment of principal
(amortization) are for public and publicly guaran- Commitments refer to the public and publicly guarteed
medium- and long-term loans. The net inflow anteed loans for which contracts were signed in
is the gross inflow less the repayment of principal. the year specified. They are reported in currencies
Public loans are external obligations of public of repayment and converted into US dollars at
debtors, including the national government, its average annual official exchange rates.
agencies, and autonomous public bodies. Publicly Figures for interest rates, maturities, and grace
guaranteed loans are external obligations of pri- periods are averages weighted by the amounts of
vate debtors that are guaranteed for repayment by loans. Interest is the major charge levied on a loan
a public entity.
and is usually computed on the amount of princi-
The data in this table and in successive tables on pal drawn and outstanding. The maturity of a loan
debt do not cover nonguaranteed private debt is the interval between the agreement date, when a
because comprehensive data are not available at loan agreement is signed or bonds are issued, and
the country level, even though for some borrowers the date of final repayment of principal. The grace
such debt is substantial. Some countries do not period is the interval between the agreement date
report debt contracted for purchases of military and the date of the first repayment of principal.
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