Foreign Debt Policies in South America, 1929-1945

Abstract

This paper examines the similarities and contrasts of strategies adopted by the larger South American economies - Argentina, Brazil and Chile - in dealing with the problems raised by the fall of their export revenues coupled with the almost complete interruption of the inflow of foreign capital in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The characteristics of foreign indebtedness of these countries in the late 1920s and the ways the external shock affected their balance of payments from 1928-29 to 1933-34 are also considered. Their differentiated adjustment processes including debt adjustment schemes adopted during the 1930s and early 1940s are compared. Permanent debt settlements are described and discussed. Finally, it considers the links between growth performance of these countries and differentiated foreign debt policies.