The debt crisis dominated the 1980s with international attention being overwhelmingly focused on the highly-indebted countries (HICs) such as Mexico and Brazil. The low-income countries (LlCs), where the impact of the crisis was no less severe, were largely ignored, with the result that, whereas the crisis in the former group of countries has been brought under control, that in the latter has worsened, Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are a case in point. Most of them are now poorer, more highly indebted and less able to meet the mounting costs of service payments on external obligations. This is not likely to change in the foreseeable future, so that these countries will have been in crisis for two decades. This is due as much to misspecification of the nature of the crisis as to inappropriate and ineffectual debt relief strategies. Consequently, while much has been done, present policies are unlikely to promote recovery and long-term sustainable development. The paper outlines a proposal by which relief can be used to reduce existing debt burdens and promote development.
