Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries 19, 1-2 (1998) 71-135

THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON THE FINANCIAL

MARKETS OF THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Dr. M. Kabir Hassan1
The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it surveys the globalisation of capital
markets in a historical context. Second, it discusses the implications of globalisation for
the developing countries capital markets. Finally, it sheds light on the future course of
action that each member of the international community ought to undertake for a
smooth and effective functioning of the international financial markets.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the last decade, global financial markets and intermediaries have faced
several costly and contagious financial crises. There have been abrupt declines
in asset prices (for example, global equity markets in 1987, real estate values
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and global bond markets in 1994); major
bouts of volatility in the foreign exchange markets (for example, the European
exchange rate mechanism (ERM) crises in 1992-93, the dollar-yen market in
early 1995); an exchange rate crisis together with a debt crisis in the emerging
markets in early 1995; and a number of costly banking problems in several
industrial and some key emerging market countries. In addition, there has been
a string of serious, albeit nonsystemic problems in individual institutions
around the world (Barings, Bank of Credit and Commerce International,
Daiwa Bank, Metallgese Uschaft, Orange County, and Sumitomo
Corporation). Although many factors have contributed, including
macroeconomic policies and management control failures, these events appear
to have been a by-product of the transformation and restructuring of
international finance that has taken place during the last ten years, including
the increase in competition that accompanied the liberalisation of the financial
sector in most of the major industrial countries, and developing countries; the
integration of capital markets; the increasing dominance of institutional
investors; the development of new financial techniques and instruments,
particularly in the derivatives area; and the growth of the emerging markets.

1
Associate Professor of Finance, Department of Economics and Finance, University of New
Orleans.

72

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

The evolution of international financial markets since the early 1990s, as

well as more recent developments, provide some tentative evidence that
international markets and their major participants--financial intermediaries and
their supervisory authorities--are settling down into a more steady pattern of
growth and innovation. It should be expected that international markets will
continue to become more global and more dominated by institutional investors,
that the continuing international diversification of institutional portfolios will
mean that the exposure of these investors to emerging markets will grow along
trend, and that the spread of global derivative finance will continue. The
evolution will take place against the backdrop of improved risk management in
the international banking sector, strengthened market surveillance within an
adaptive regulatory environment, a more resilient market structure, and with an
official sector that has made it top policy priority to create the infrastructure
required for a stable market environment.
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEREGULATED AND INTEGRATED
GLOBAL ECONOMY
An appraisal of the key features of a deregulated, broadly integrated,
increasingly internationalised, yet inadequately supervised capital market
structure reveals first excessive indebtedness on the part of numerous
corporations, households, and governments in several countries. This is the
undesirable legacy of dramatically increased access to credit during the past
10-15 years. Second, many developed and developing countries have impaired
financial institutions. When many of their most creditworthy commercial
borrowers gravitated to the opening credit markets, a large number of banks
reacted by going into a variety of questionable activities--balance of payments
loans to less developed countries (LDCs) that cannot be fully repaid, a
headlong rush into financing commercial real estate, and funding speculative
ventures such as leveraged buyouts and corporate take-overs.
Third, there is an absence of a truly level playing field among different
types of financial institutions, despite the high degree of globalisation of
capital markets. Some institutions such as commercial banks are regulated on a
consolidated international basis; other institutions such as securities firms and
insurance companies are regulated piecemeal; others such as finance
companies have no formal official oversight whatsoever. The persistence of
gaping anomalies casts great doubt on how the system as a whole would be
impacted by a major failure and who would have responsibility for holding the
system together.

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

73

Fourth, the world savings rates are smaller. Alongside the development of
more integrated capital markets, savings rates have declined in virtually every
major industrial country. According to official estimates, total national
savings, including households, businesses, and governments, declined from an
average of 23% of GDP for the major industrial countries for 1974-79 to
20.4% during the decade of the 1980s. The savings rate fell for every major
industrial country except West Germany, where it held roughly steady. One
important consequence of this decline has been a historically high cost of
capital.
Fifth, there exists a large role of government debt in national capital
markets. High real long-term interest rates, averaging 5% per annum or more
in most major industrial countries, are also a product of the continuing largescale borrowing requirements of many governments, the debt of which
dominates most domestic fixed-income markets.
In sum, while deregulation and globalisation of capital markets have
provided some benefits in terms of greater flexibility and efficiency, the
preservation of the safety and soundness of the financial system requires a
more forceful and internationally co-ordinated supervisory presence.
3. THE GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKET DURING 1870-1939 PERIOD
The 1870-1939 period was dominated by the London financial market as a
source of capital for other countries. Europes industrial revolution produced a
strong demand for food and raw materials, which could be satisfied only by
investment in many other parts of the world. Expansion of railroads and other
infrastructure was externally financed, and foreign investors were repaid later
from the resulting export earnings. Some of the countries where these
investments were made--such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the United
States--were able to buy imports of manufactures from the more industrialised
countries in Europe. Then, as now, this growing economic interdependence
was facilitated by international finance.
What was unique about the years 1870-1914 was the scale of international
finance. Over the period as a whole, Great Britain invested 3% of its GNP
abroad, reaching a peak of 10% just before World War 1. Its net receipts of
investment income from abroad were in the range of 5 to 8% of GNP,
implying that new foreign investment did not keep up fully with inflows of
interest and dividends. As a proportion of British savings, capital outflows
ranged between 25 and 40%. France and Germany also invested heavily

74

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

abroad, though not as much as Britain. By the late nineteenth century, French
and German gross capital exports were averaging 2 to 3% of GNP.
The nature of the capital flows varied considerably in 1870-1914. The
largest single group included the market-oriented investments, largely
undertaken by Britain, in the resource-rich countries of North America, Latin
America, and Oceania. In 1914, these accounted for 70% of Britains total
foreign investments and more than half of all gross foreign assets. A second
group, accounting for a quarter of all foreign investment, involved investments
in Russia and other Eastern European countries and in Scandinavia; France
and Germany were the principal investors. A third group covered the primarily
politically motivated investments in China, Egypt, India, Turkey, and some
African colonies. These three groups received capital at different times, so
new regions were financially linked with the world economy only gradually.
For the large debtors in the nineteenth century, capital inflows had only a
small weight in their economies. For most decades, capital inflows to the
United States were around 1% of its GNP and never exceeded 6% of its
domestic investment. For the smaller debtors, however, capital inflows as a
proportion of GNP were higher than they are for many developing countries
today. Capital inflows to Canada averaged 7.5% of its GNP, accounting for
between 30% and 50% of annual investment from 1870 to 1910. Ratios were
similar in Australia and the Scandinavian countries. The most striking case
was that of Argentina, where capital inflows annually ranged between 12 and
15% of GNP and financed about 40% of its total investment during the first
two decades of the twentieth century. By contrast, net capital inflows to all
developing countries averaged 2 to 3% of GDP between 1960 and 1973. Since
1973 they have not exceeded 6% of GDP and have financed between 12 and
20% of gross investment.
Differences do not stop with geography and the relative volume of external
finance. In the years 1870-1914, almost all lending came from private sources,
in the form of stock and bond issues. Lending terms were long: maturities of
up to ninety-nine years were not uncommon. Nearly two-thirds of foreign
capital went to finance investment in railroads and utilities.
A large proportion of the flows went to the then relatively high-income
countries; North America, Latin America, and Australia received more than
half of the total. The international capital market in the nineteenth century did
not, and was not designed to, provide poorer countries with access to capital.
For example, even India- though favoured in British capital markets--received
very little investment. Capital was drawn to investments that yielded higher

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

75

returns than were available in the domestic economy. Thus it operated

selectively, to the advantage of high-income borrowers; although there were
some politically motivated investments with marginal economic returns, they
were not significant in terms of the volume of flows.
These differences compared with the recent past were also accompanied
by some close parallels: periodic debt-servicing difficulties and an early
version of what is now known as conditionality. Lenders and borrowers
operated against a backdrop of large cyclical swings in international economic
activity compounded by rebellions and wars. Sometimes borrowers failed to
make their payments. They fell into two broad categories. First, countries such
as Argentina and Brazil, where foreign capital was important in integrating
their economies into an expanding world economy, experienced cyclical
problems related to abrupt declines in foreign exchange earnings. Foreign
loans were used, along with domestic policy changes, to alleviate liquidity
crises until exports recovered. In some cases, foreign creditors got involved in
domestic policy issues. In the Brazilian crisis of the 1890s, for example, the
government pledged all its customs receipts and agreed to a moratorium on
new (internal and external) debt issues.
The second kind of debt crisis was the result of stagnant domestic
revenues and expanding fiscal deficits. Countries in this group included Egypt,
Peru, and Turkey in the 1870s, and Greece in the 1890s. Capital inflows could
not continually finance deficits and became increasingly expensive. These
countries export growth slowed considerably before they defaulted. In these
cases, creditors intervened not only at the moment of default but sometimes
much sooner. In the Turkish crisis, for example, a foreign loan (the first in
series) was issued in London with the encouragement of the British
government. A condition of the loan was that commissioners should be sent to
oversee the expenditure of the proceeds.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties, the record up to 1914 shows that
investment abroad was profitable for investors in Great Britain and continental
Europe. It earned returns that have been calculated to be between 1.6 and 3.9
percentage points higher than returns on domestic investment. Within that
average, although there were a number of defaults on foreign loans, the most
profitable investments were in railroads in the United States. Although they
were untypically lucrative, they helped to foster a general climate in favour of
foreign investment. Another influence working in the same direction was that
loans were used to purchase British exports, so financial and real flows went
together. When borrowers got into difficulty, they found that the London
capital market was not an unyielding taskmaster.

76

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Between the two world wars, the pattern of international investment

shifted dramatically. The United States emerged not merely as a net creditor
country, but as the main source of new cashflows. In certain respects, it played
a role similar to Britains earlier one. It financed many long-term bond issues:
of the 1,700 foreign dollar issues offered in the United States in the 1920s,
almost half had average maturities of twenty years. Some 4% had average
maturities of forty years and 1% of more than forty years. At least forty-three
governments borrowed during the 1920s, and none defaulted. During the peak
period of flotations, from 1924 to 1928, the interest differential in favour of
new foreign issues was between 1.7 and 1.9 percentage points. The US also
financed a large amount of direct investment, mainly in Canada and Latin
America. Its direct investment rose by almost $4 billion in the 1920s, twothirds of it going to Western Hemisphere countries.
However, the 1920s were different from earlier decades in several vital
respects. First, the volume of government lending and borrowing was far
greater. Borrowings by governments accounted for nearly half of the foreign
dollar issues in the United States. No less important, World War I had left a
legacy of official debt. The United States was owed almost all the debts made
between the Allies, totalling more than $16 billion. In addition, the Allies had
heavy reparation claims against Germany.
The second difference was that foreign capital was no longer part of an
integrated pattern of population and trade. By the mid-1920s, commodity
prices were falling. Some countries borrowed to finance a growing stockpile of
unsold commodities; one example was Brazil in the 1920s, to finance coffee
stocks. In the mid-1920s, there was an increase of 75% in commodity stocks,
financed indirectly by foreign capital.
The third difference with the pre-World War I period was the trade policy
followed by the major global creditor. British free trade had served to
guarantee debtors a market for their products. The United States was more
protectionist and its external trade was a relatively small portion of its GDP.
Following the recession of 1920-21, it raised tariffs back to where they had
been before some liberalisation in 1913. If debtors could not generate export
surpluses, they needed capital inflows to service past debts. The process
inevitably produced ever-increasing debt.
The Great Depression of 1929-32 turned a potential threat into a disaster.
Between 1929 and 1932, output in industrial countries fell 17% and the
volume of world trade by more than a quarter. The international monetary

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

77

system disintegrated. There was no lender of last resort to provide liquidity, a

function that the United Kingdom had previously undertaken. And the liberal
trading system of the pre-war years virtually disappeared. Most countries
raised tariffs and applied quotas and exchange controls. Lack of finance
contributed to the decline of international trade, and vice versa.
Several industrial countries defaulted on their war debts and reparation.
Germany, facing declining production, exports, and prices, first obtained a
one-year moratorium in 1931 and then defaulted on all its external debts in
1932. Developing countries were also failing to service their debt. Bolivia
defaulted on its dollar obligations in 1931 and was soon followed by most
other Latin American countries. By the end of 1933, Argentina was the only
Latin American country that maintained full servicing on its external debts.
Effectively, access by developing countries to commercial markets ceased
until the 1960s.
Although the deterioration in the general economic climate was the
proximate cause of defaults in the interwar period, it was not the only one.
Other contributions came from excessive borrowing, particularly between
1925 and 1929; poor risk assessment on the part of lenders; panic; and an
abrupt cessation of lending just before a default. In general, the financial
penalties for defaulting were rather small in the 1930s. Defaulting
governments had established a precedent, and the number of private defaulters
was too large for sanctions to be enforced. However, the cost in domestic
adjustment could be severe. Between 1929 and 1938, the maximum peak-totrough declines in output for major Latin American countries ranged from 7%
for Brazil to 26% for Peru.
Three broad lessons emerge from the experience of international finance
between 1870 and 1939. First, finance seeks out profit: in general, the highest
returns were from investments that directly or indirectly exploited natural
resources. Technological innovation--such as the expansion of railroads in the
nineteenth century--was also a major absorber of capital, and international
capital in particular. Repayments were more likely when investments led to
increased exports (as was generally the case before 1914) than when the ability
to export was constrained by protectionist measures in capital-exporting
countries (as was the case in the interwar period). Political risk was minimised
by investing in colonies or in countries that were integrated with capital
exporters through trade and finance.
Second, the volume and composition of finance changes to reflect shifts in
the world economy. Before World War I, private capital markets were

78

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

dominant; in the interwar period, public borrowing and lending assumed a

much larger role. Financial innovation is also influential: for example, the
nineteenth century saw the establishment of mutual funds, which separated
ownership from the management of portfolios and spread risk more widely.
Third, reschedulings and defaults were the result of inadequate policy
responses by borrowers to declining terms of trade. Defaults were typically
settled in negotiations with bondholder committees on terms that seldom
preserved more than a small fraction of the original capital value. Negotiators
explicitly assessed the borrowers ability to undertake policy reforms; this
capacity to repay formed the basis for determining how much debt should be
forgiven. In most cases, existing debt was consolidated and extended with a
significant reduction in principal and interest due; interest arrears were often
waived entirely. External intervention, including military force, was common
where lending had been determined by political factors. When countries ran
into liquidity difficulties, they were able to borrow more if they revised their
policies and while they waited for their export earnings to recover.
4. THE GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKET DURING THE POST-1945
PERIOD
The Bretton Woods Conference in July 1944 outlined the post-war
international economic system and led to the creation of the International
monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development. After World War II, the United States continued as the major
creditor country, and its dollar became the main reserve currency. In 1947, it
announced the Economic Recovery Program (or Marshall Plan), designed for
the reconstruction of the war-ravaged countries of Europe. Between 1948 a
1951, the program provided over $11 billion to Western Europe, with a further
$2.6 billion between 1951 and mid-1953. The aid primarily took the form of
grants of commodities. The counterpart funds were used to finance investment.
This helped Europe to make a dramatic recovery: the countries participating in
the Economic Recovery Program increased their industrial product by 39%
between 1948 and 1952.
The ending of Marshall aid did not produce a swing in the US balance of
payments. On the contrary, US foreign investment expanded as a result of
incentives to US banks and corporations to invest abroad, plus a big
devaluation of European currencies against the dollar in 1949 and the large US
military presence in Europe. The US also increased its loans and grants to
developing countries, and private direct investment increased sharply in Latin
America. The overall US balance of payments moved into deficit in 1950 and

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

79

stayed there for many years. During the 1950s, this aroused little concern. It
was a commonly held view that there was a dollar shortage and that such
deficits were appropriate for the leading international creditor.
Europes balance of payments improved considerably in 1958, boosting its
foreign reserves. At the end of that year, most European governments declared
their currencies convertible (Japan did the same only in 1964). Capital markets
in Europe and the United States started to integrate, with private capital flows
becoming responsive to movements in interest rates. In the late 1950s,
European banks, notably in London and Switzerland, began to deal in dollars.
This marked the inception of what came to be known as Eurocurrency markets.
The decade had begun with official capital flows contributing to economic
growth and trade expansion; it ended with a growing volume of private capital
flowing between industrial economies.
The post-war years also saw the progressive decolonisation of the
developing countries. The United States and later other industrial countries
began their formal programs of foreign aid. In the early 1950s, the World Bank
shifted its focus from reconstruction to development, though it continued
lending to industrial countries, including Japan, during the 1950s and 1960s. In
1956 the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was created to assist the
private sector in developing countries through loans and equity investments. In
1960 governments formed the International Development Association (IDA) to
provide a multilateral source of concessional finance for low-income
countries. These years also saw the establishment of several regional
development banks, including the Inter-American Development Bank (1959),
the African Development Bank (1964), and the Asian Development Bank
(1966).
For most of the 1960s, the world economy enjoyed a period of largely
untroubled progress. Industrial economies grew by an average of 5% a year,
with little year-to-year variability in growth rates. World trade grew even
faster, at an average of 8.4% a year, helped by the progressive trade
liberalisation policies pursued under the GATT. Inflation rates in industrial
economies as a group varied between 2 and 4% a year, though individual
countries had bouts of more rapid price increases. Nominal interest rates
adjusted for inflation (that is, real interest rates) were usually in the 2 to 3%
range.
Developing countries benefited from these international conditions. As a
group, their output increased by over 5% a year. Some developing countries
grew much faster than others, accentuating the differences in average incomes.

80

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Current account deficits were financed chiefly by official flows (loans and
grants), by private direct investment, and by trade finance. Official aid grew by
about 3% a year in real terms in 1950-65. Direct foreign investment also
increased rapidly, as multinational corporations sought new supplies of raw
materials in developing countries. Export credits revived as a source of finance
for developing countries--a mixed blessing, as their relatively short maturities
contributed to debt-servicing problems for many countries.
Several developing countries ran into debt difficulties in the 1950s and
1960s. Between 1956 and 1970, there were seventeen debt reschedulings
involving seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Peru,
and Turkey), each of them more than once. The reasons for their difficulties
varied. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Turkey shared certain problems:
large budget deficits; rapid inflation and delayed adjustments of the exchange
rate; deteriorating terms of trade; declining export earnings; the accumulation
of short-term external debt. Ghana and Indonesia also had these problems-though more acutely, because they launched large, long-term projects that they
financed with short-term credits and executed inefficiently. In a number of
other cases, including India, debt rescheduling was used to provide increased
capital flows to low-income countries when concessional flows from industrial
economies were constrained.
Creditors rescheduled their loans through ad hoc multilateral groups, such
as the Paris Club. The International Monetary Fund was also involved in
providing extra finance to support policy reforms. In general, creditors did not
incur capital losses; they extended maturities and received interest on
schedule. Borrowers undertook policy reforms designed to bring their balance
of payments into better equilibrium and to establish the basis for economic
growth.
Although the 1960s saw a rapid expansion of world output and trade, some
international monetary problems started to emerge. The United States made
efforts to control capital outflows. Many countries experienced difficulty in
maintaining their exchange rates, notably Britain in the mid-1960s and France
a few years later. The need for reform of the international monetary system
was formally recognised as early as 1963.
By the end of the 1960s, the rate of growth of industrial economies had
begun to slow and inflationary pressures to build up. Continued deficits in the
US balance of payments found their counterpart in surpluses in Europe and
Japan. The dollars exchange rate started to come under pressure. In August
1971, the United States temporarily suspended the convertibility of the dollar

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

81

into gold. In December 1971, it devalued the dollar as part of a general

realignment of currencies. Further pressures on exchange markets led to
generalised floating of exchange rates in 1973.
5. KEY CHANGES IN GLOBAL CAPITAL MARKETS: 1940s TO 1990s
Since the start of the post-World War II era, there have been a number of basic
changes in global capital markets. Any reform of the international economic
institutions supporting a new world order should take these vital changes into
consideration.
First, at the end of World War II, the United States was the dominant
economic superpower, and this made it relatively easy to fashion international
economic agreements. The Bretton Woods conference was essentially a
discussion between two dominant parties--the United States and the United
Kingdom. The Germans, Italians, and Japanese were not included for obvious
reasons. France was still occupied. The Russians were there, but they were not
a major force, and much of the rest of the world was somebody elses colony.
As a result, it was possible for the two close allies to settle their modest
differences between the so-called Keynes plan and the American approach.
The economic realities of the 1990s are quite different from those of the
1940s. If the Bretton Woods conference were attempted now, there would, of
course, be many more countries, and groups of countries, with many different
points of view about how to set up any new financial institutions, and the
chance for success would be thin.
Second, at the end of World War II, many leading governments practised
exchange and capital controls. Currently, few leading governments practise
these controls, and deregulation has vastly altered the landscape in many
financial markets. A sweeping transformation from rigorously governmentcontrolled, segmented, and frequently inefficient national markets to the far
more open, broadly interconnected, and inventive capital markets has
occurred. This transformation did not come about as a result of careful,
deliberate planning by government officials, academics, or market participants
themselves. Instead, it came in fits and starts. It was spawned by repeated
bursts of financial opportunism, as borrowers, lenders, or intermediaries
sought ways to avoid regulations, side-step taxes, gain access to cheaper
sources of funds, trade currencies or securities at lower cost and without
onerous restrictions, or find new avenues for speculative activity.
Third, at the start of the post-World War II era, a major portion of
international capital flows was between government (or quasi-government)

82

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

agencies. As a result, a major portion of international capital flows often did

not strictly follow the dictates of so-called free market forces. However, in the
1990s, a major portion of international capital flows occurs between private
sector, profit-maximising corporations. These corporations follow the dictates
of market forces, and they often give priority to short-run influences over longterm factors. This shift has dramatically influenced the environment in which
global capital markets function, and it has created the possibility of instability
in many financial centres.
A fourth difference is the relative reversal in importance of international
trade and international finance. In the 1940s, international trade was treated as
king and international finance was viewed as somewhat of a junior
partner. In large measure, this was due to the relative magnitudes of
international trade and international financial forces. International trade was
viewed as being much larger and generally more important than international
finance. This picture has changed in recent years, of course, as the growth of
international financial markets has outstripped the growth of international
trade. In the short and intermediate terms, exchange rates often follow the
dictates of international capital markets and not international trading forces.
For example, in the early 1980s, when the United States followed a
macroeconomic policy of significant government deficits--due in large part to
tax reductions and a military build-up coupled with substantial growth in
entitlements--most economists predicted that high interest rates would choke
off any economic recovery. However, the United States experienced the
longest peacetime expansion of the post-World War II era in the 1980s. This
was primarily due to the significant role of international capital markets, as
foreign lenders were willing to finance the US government budget deficits at
unprecedented levels. The change in size and quality of international capital
markets often is not fully appreciated by decision-makers.
A fifth major change in global capital markets centres on technological
and entrepreneurial innovations. In the 1940s and 1950s, computers and
derivative instruments (such as interest rate swaps, futures, and options) had
no real influence on, and did not exist in, most global capital markets. Given
major advances in microelectronics, telecommunications, and deregulation,
computers and derivative instruments will have a major influence on global
capital markets in the 1990s. National and international regulators have often
lagged well behind these innovations.
A sixth change centres on the relative roles of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank. In the 1940s, the IMF and the Bank had clear and

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

83

different roles to play in the international economic system. In general, the

IMF was supposed to manage macroeconomic forces and exchange rate
matters. The mission of the Bank was to make long-term loans for various
development projects. In contrast to the IMF, the Bank was supposed to deal
with issues on the microeconomic level.
In recent years, a certain amount of overlap has developed in the
operations of the World Bank and the IMF, and this implies possible
bureaucratic waste and unnecessary expense. The roles of the Bank and the
Fund were originally quite different and distinct. The World Bank was in the
business of lending for specific projects, such as railroads or hydro-dams.
These were long-term loans, and their evaluation was primarily on a
macroeconomic or individual project efficiency basis. The International
Monetary Fund, in contrast, was in the business of making shorter-term loans-normally for three to five years--for balance of payments support. The Fund
had mostly a macroeconomic focus--it judged fiscal and monetary policies,
exchange rates, and other macroeconomic factors.
Over the past decade or so, the distinction between these two roles has
become unclear, particularly with the World Banks involvement in structural
adjustment loans. These loans are not based on specific projects, but instead
are designed to produce financial (which really means balance of payments)
support during a period in which various structural adjustments are made in a
country. With an extended Fund facility and the structural adjustment facility,
the IMF began longer-term lending. At the same time, the Bank became more
involved in macroeconomic or broad policy considerations. To some degree
their functions began to overlap, suggesting the possibility that operational
expenses were being duplicated.
The less developed countries (LDCs) have been unhappy over the way that
the IMF has operated its conditionality program. Conditionality means that
loans from the Fund are conditional upon the pursuit of macroeconomic and
exchange rate policies that make it likely that the loan will be repaid. Thus,
countries may get loans, or are allowed drawings, if their budgets move toward
balance and if their money supply growth is reduced. Also, their loans are
conditioned on their exchange rates being set at appropriate levels. In addition,
the Fund looks at various structure problems like price controls. Many LDCs
think that conditionality is an imposition on their sovereignty, and they view it
as mother telling them what to do. However, the Funds policies are
designed to make repayment possible. If such policies were not pursued, it is
unclear how the Fund would be repaid. The central issue for the Bank and the
Fund is lack of money. There are numerous new borrowers coming into the

84

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

system with the admission of the republics that were in the USSR. There are
also enormous needs in Eastern Europe.
Lastly, the start of the post-World War II era was associated with fixed
exchange rates. Although there have been some recent proposals to go back to
fixed exchange rates--or narrow exchange rate bands--the 1990s have been an
era of flexible or floating exchange rates. However, this does not mean that
governments in this decade are willing to take a hands-off view toward
exchange rates. Governments frequently still become involved in supply and
demand management when dealing with exchange rates. Thus, it may be more
accurate to call the 1990s a period of dirty or managed floats than a period
of perfectly free exchange rates. Also, at the start of the post-World War II era,
national regulators were able, for the most part, to cope with the international
side of financial markets. Currently, national regulators are often unable to
cope with this aspect of financial markets.
A key goal of the IMF should be to redefine a credible role for itself in the
management of the international monetary system. While the Fund has proved
to be an effective agent in promoting financial stability and reform in the
developing world, it has yet to be drawn into the policymaking councils of the
industrialised governments. That role is of far greater importance from the
standpoint of the international economy than the quite valuable role that the
Fund has played in promoting a sound financial environment in the developing
world. Also, the Fund is clearly the preferred instrument in promoting the
transition to market economies in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Again, however, in terms of the world economy, that role is dwarfed by the
contribution the IMF could make to future economic prosperity and global
growth by bringing about better co-ordination of the monetary and financial
policies of the industrialised countries. The Fund needs to make sure that
monetary and exchange rate policies are conducive to economic growth rather
than the reverse.
In general, a major economic initiative is undertaken only when political
leaders are deeply convinced that the time is right for a change and when key
political constituents appear to be willing to support that shift. The 1990s
probably will see marginal reforms of the international economic system and
not the wholesale and sweeping reforms that took place after World War II.
6. FINANCIAL SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The evolution of financial systems in developing countries reflected their
diverse political and economic histories. Latin American and Mediterranean

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

85

countries, politically independent since at least the first quarter of the

nineteenth century, suffered frequent bouts of financial instability. These
prevented the emergence of mature financial systems. In contrast, developing
countries in Africa and Asia, under colonial rule until the end of World War II,
enjoyed relative financial stability, but their financial systems suffered from
colonial neglect and stagnation.
The financial systems of most developing countries were heavily oriented
toward agricultural exports, other primary production, and foreign trade. In
Africa and Asia, financial systems catered principally to expatriate
communities. Financial services for the indigenous populations were limited.
Foreign banks confined their operations to port towns and other centres of
commerce where the expatriate communities were gathered. The domestic
population, especially in Asia, hoarded precious metals and jewellery.
Hoarding was insurance against financial emergencies caused by war, crop
failure, natural disaster, and personal mishap, but it was saving denied to
productive investment.
Sound banking promoted financial stability in Africa and Asia. Currency
boards regulated the money supply and maintained reserves that were invested
in London and Paris. The financial systems of most African countries,
however, were underdeveloped until independence. They comprised a few
foreign colonial banks, post office savings banks, co-operative societies, and
moneylenders. Nigeria was the only African country with indigenous
commercial banks before the late 1940s.
Financial development was more advanced in Asia. As in Africa, foreign
banks confined their operations largely to the financing of foreign trade, but
they also helped to finance internal trade. Most Asian countries also had a
fairly well-developed indigenous banking system, with commercial banks, cooperative credit societies, and informal bankers and moneylenders. India, in
particular, had a sophisticated indigenous banking structure. It had evolved
over several centuries, developing the use of commercial bills known as hundi
for financing nonlocal trade and relying on an elaborate system of personal
relations to finance local, mostly small-scale activities.
Foreign banks operated in pre-1949 China, mostly in treaty ports, and
some indigenous banks (shansz) remitted funds across regions and financed
local trade. Foreign banks promoted foreign direct investment in railroad
construction, mining, and manufacturing. They also made massive loans to the
Chinese government and in the process gained control of its customs and salt
revenues. Modern Chinese banks came into being in the 1930s. They had close

86

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

links with the government and the ruling families and were able to seize the
initiative from foreign banks and emerge as the dominant group. After 1949
China built a monobanking system typical of centrally planned economies.
Indigenous bankers and moneylenders were able to meet the borrowing
needs of local traders and farmers by maintaining close personal contact with
them and acquiring intimate knowledge of their operations. Their services
were accessible but expensive. Informal financial institutions, such as rotating
savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), also emerged in most countries.
Indigenous bankers and informal financial institutions, however, could not
mobilise the resources required for industrialisation.
Throughout the nineteenth century, Latin American countries relied too
much on foreign capital. Argentina and a few other countries developed active
mortgage-bond markets and stock exchanges alongside thriving but fragile
banking sectors. Unfortunately, however, recurring financial crises
undermined attempts to develop the system adequately. Finance lagged behind
the regions achievements in infrastructure, agriculture, and mining. Instability
resulted from too much foreign borrowing; the overissue of currency;
imprudent domestic banking; speculation in commodity, securities, and foreign
exchange markets; excess capacity in industry and commerce; regional wars;
and internal political unrest. Many of these were to figure in the debt crisis of
the 1980s.
Latin American economies ran for long periods with inconvertible paper
money, high inflation, and depreciating exchange rates. Producers and
exporters of primary commodities welcomed this; they stood to benefit and
had a strong hold on government policies. Latin American countries
occasionally suspended the servicing of their external debt. Foreign lenders,
however, were usually lenient, probably because the region had immense
potential for profitable investment. Major international houses arranged socalled funding loans, such as the Brazilian loan of 1898, which had many
features in common with the multiyear rescheduling agreements of recent
years. In contrast, foreign lenders imposed strict controls on the finances of
many other countries, such as China, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey. Their
governments were forced to cede revenues from stamp and customs duties and
from state monopolies (on salt, matches, and tobacco) until the debts were
fully repaid.
World War I and the depression of the 1930s played havoc with the world
economy. Latin American countries were particularly affected by the
development of man-made raw materials and the transformation of the British

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

87

Commonwealth into a protectionist bloc. Most of them defaulted on their

foreign debts, but the central and other state banks that had been created in the
1920s averted the panics of earlier periods.
Before World War II, developing country governments had a poor record
on financial development. In Latin America and the Mediterranean countries,
they failed to create sound legal and regulatory systems and to maintain
macroeconomic stability. Borrowers relied excessively on foreign capital, and
financial systems were undermined by imprudence. In Africa and Asia the
restricted use of bank credit, the limited spread of the banking habit, and the
persistence of the hoarding habit were all legacies of colonial banking systems
that had failed to reach the indigenous population.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, high inflation and changes in financial
markets undermined many of the credit and banking controls then in use.
Several countries, including Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and
Sweden, enacted a series of wide-ranging banking reforms. These abolished
the distinctions among different types of institution, relaxed both global and
selective credit controls, removed branching restrictions, and liberalised
interest rates on lending and wholesale deposits.
Financial deregulation was interrupted by the macroeconomic turmoil that
followed the rise in oil prices in 1973. Many countries reimposed credit
controls, hoping to contain monetary expansion without raising interest rates.
But deregulation resumed in the late 1970s. It ranged from the elimination or
relaxation of controls on credit, interest rates, and foreign exchange to the
removal of restrictions on the activities of institutions and on new financial
instruments. In most countries the changes were cautious and gradual. This
contrasted sharply with the experience of some Latin American countries.
Deregulation was prompted by the growing realisation that direct controls
had become less effective over time. The growth of the Euromarkets, the
development of new financial instruments, and the advent of electronic
technology all made it easier to bypass the restrictions. Governments also
recognised that the prolonged use of directed and subsidised credit programs
would lead to the inefficient use of resources and hinder the development of
better systems.
7. MACRO-FINANCIAL INDICATORS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
CAPITAL MARKETS

88

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

We discuss major macro-financial indicators of developing countries and their

implications in the context of globalisation of world capital and financial
markets. Among developing countries, Asia had the largest GDP which
constituted slightly above 50% of the total GDP of developing countries. The
Western Hemisphere comes in second place with 22.2% followed by the
Middle East and Europe with 12.0%. The least was Africa with 8.2%. For
exports of Goods and Services, nonfuel exports dominated by 78.7% and fuel
exports only 21.3%. More than 50% of the nonfuel exports were manufactures.
For total debt outstanding, about 96.1% are net debtor countries while only
3.9% are net creditor countries (See Table 1; Source: IMF).
Although there were fluctuations, the GDP deflators and consumer prices
of industrial countries had an overall downward trend from 1986 to 1996. In
contrast, consumer prices of developing countries and countries in transition
had an upward trend. For developing countries, consumer prices rose steadily
from 1986 to 1990 and dropped by approximately 50% in 1991. It increased
steadily from 1992 to 1994 and declined substantially in 1995 and 1996. For
countries in transition, consumer prices rose steadily from 1986 to 1991,
skyrocketed in 1992, and declined thereafter with a substantial drop in 1996
(See Table 2: Source: IMF).
For industrial countries, the central and general government fiscal balance
increased from 1987 to 1990, decreased from 1991 to 1993, and increased
steadily from 1994 to 1996. The growth of broad money of industrial countries
increased from 1987 to 1989, decreased from 1990 to 1992, increased in 1993
and declined in 1994. No figures were reported for 1995 and 1996. For
developing countries, the central government fiscal balance increased from
1987 to 1992, decreased in 1993 and increased thereafter up till 1996. The
weighted average of growth of broad money of developing countries rose from
1987 to 1989, declined in 1990 and 1991, rose in 1992 and 1993, and declined
thereafter till 1996. For countries in transition, the central government fiscal
balance was stable in 1987 and 1988, rose steadily from 1989 to 1992, and
declined in 1993 and 1995 - with a slight increase in 1994. Except for the drop
in 1990, the growth of broad money increased from 1987 to 1992 and dropped
in 1993 and 1994 (See Table 3: Source: IMF).
The broad money aggregates of developing countries increased by 75%
from 1987 to 1989, dropped by 27% from 1989 to 1991, increased by 20%
from 1991 to 1993 and declined steadily thereafter with a total decrease of
77% from 1993 to 1996. The bulk of this amount came from the Western
Hemisphere. The Western Hemisphere contributed approximately 70% of the

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

89

total. Africa, Asia and Middle East and Europe constituted roughly 30% (See
Table 4: Source: IMF).
There has been a lot of fluctuations in the volume of world trade between
1986 and 1996. The volume of world trade increased from 1986 to 1988,
decreased in 1990 and 1991, increased in 1992, decreased in 1993, increased
in 1994 and declined in 1995 and 1996. World trade prices of manufactures
have not followed a steady pattern as well. It increased in 1987, decreased in
1988 and 1989, increased in 1990, decreased in 1991, increased in 1992,
decreased in 1993, increased in 1994 and 1995 and decreased in 1996. Oil
prices dropped substantially by 117% from 1987 to 1988, increased
significantly by 205% in 1989, increased slightly in 1990, dropped in 1991,
increased in 1992, dropped in 1993, increased from 1994 to 1995 then dropped
in 1996. World trade prices for nonfuel primary commodities increased from
1986 to 1988, dropped from 1989 to 1990, increased in 1991 and 1992,
dropped in 1993, increased in 1994 and dropped in 1995 and 1996. Overall,
world trade volumes and prices have been very unstable between 1986 to 1996
(See Table 5: Source: IMF).
There has been a lot of fluctuations in the pattern of payment balances on
current account for industrial countries, developing countries and countries in
transition. For industrial countries, their payments balances increased by
10.67% from 1987 to 1988, declined by 47.7% in 1989 and further dropped by
21.2% in 1990. Thereafter, from 1991 to 1996, there was an upward trend with
a significant increase of 155.3% in 1993. While the payments balances on
current account of industrial countries have had an upward trend, the overall
payment balances of developing countries have steadily declined from 1987 to
1996 with significant increases only in 1989 and 1990. For countries in
transition, there has also been a downward trend in the pattern of payments
balances from 1987 to 1996 with a significant decrease of 197% in 1990.
Despite the fluctuations, the figures show that the total payments balances on
current account have been on a downward trend with a significant increase
only in 1993 which is probably due to the increase from the industrial
countries (See Table 6: Source: IMF).
We can divide the discussion of external financing situation of developing
countries according to their various criteria. In the predominant export
criterion, the total net external financing of fuel exports decreased by 35% in
1988, increased by 316% from 1988 to 1991, decreased by 11% in 1992,
increased by 27% in 1993, declined by 78% in 1994, further dropped by 42%
in 1995 and rose by 146% in 1996. Except for the fall in 1988, we could say
that there was an upward trend in the external financing of fuel export from

90

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

1987 to 1991. The trend from 1992 to 1996 has been mixed with increases and
decreases. For net external financing of nonfuel exports, there was a steady
increase from 1987 to 1993, and a downward trend thereafter.
According to financial criteria, for net creditor countries, the total net
external financing decreased substantially from 1986 to 1990 by 112%, it
increased in 1991 and 1992, declined in 1993 and 1994, and increased in 1995
and 1996. For net debtor countries, the net external financing increased
steadily from 1987 to 1993 by a total of 448%, declined by 34% in 1994 and
increased by 7% in 1996. For market borrowers, the net external financing
increased steadily from 1987 to 1993, declined in 1994 and 1995 and increased
slightly in 1996. For diversified borrowers, the net external financing
increased from 1987 to 1990, decreased in 1991, increased in 1992 and 1993,
decreased in 1994 and increased in 1995 and 1996. Overall, except for the
decreases in 1991 and 1994, the net external financing for diversified
borrowers has followed an upward trend from 1987 to 1996. For official
borrowers, the net external financing fluctuated between 1987 and 1996. There
was an upward trend from 1987 to 1989 with a total increase of 49%, a
decrease of 27% from 1989 to 1991, no change in 1991 and 1992, increase of
58% from 1992 and 1994, and a decline of 34% in 1994 and 1996. For
countries with recent debt-servicing difficulties, except for the decrease in
1989, the overall net external financing increased steadily from 1987 to 1993,
decreased in 1994 and 1995 and increased in 1996. For countries without debtservicing difficulties, the net external financing increased steadily from 1987
to 1993, declined in 1994 and 1995, and increased in 1996 (See Table 7:
Source: IMF).
Except for the decrease in 1988, the reserves of developing countries have
followed an upward trend from 1987 to 1996. The ratio of reserves to imports
of goods and services in developing countries remained between the range of
39.1 to 32.1 from 1987 to 1996. It decreased by 16% in 1988, experienced no
significant change from 1988 to 1989, increased by 3% in 1990. Although
there were fluctuations from 1991 to 1996, there was no change that exceeded
7% (See Table 8: Source: IMF).
The net credit and loans from the IMF to developing countries increased
steadily from 1987 to 1991 by a total of 123%, and decreased from 1991 to
1994 by a total of 173%. For countries in transition, the net credits and loans
from IMF increased steadily from 1987 to 1991 by 418% and declined
thereafter. The total decrease between 1992 and 1994 was 41%. Overall, it
could be said that the net credit and loans from the IMF to developing

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

91

countries and countries in transition had an upward trend from 1987 to 1991
and a downward trend from 1992 to 1994 (See Table 9: Source: IMF).
The amount of external debt of developing countries increased steadily
from 1987 to 1996. Although there were mild fluctuations in the external debt
of countries in transition, there was an overall upward trend from 1987 to
1996. Except for the mild decreases in 1989 and 1992, the amount of debtservice payments of developing countries increased steadily from 1987 to
1995. It declined slightly in 1996. For countries in transition, there were major
fluctuations in the amount of debt-service payments from 1987 to 1996. In
percent of exports of goods and services, the external debt of developing
countries had a downward trend from 1987 to 1996. For countries in transition,
except for the decrease in 1988, the overall external debt in percent of exports
of goods and services showed an upward trend from 1987 to 1994. It declined
in 1995 and 1996--although not substantially. Although there have been
fluctuations, the overall debt-service payments of developing countries in
terms of percent of exports of goods and services has had a downward trend
from 1987 to 1996. For countries in transition the trend has not been that
smooth. Although it maintained stability between 11.4 and 13.3%, there were
significant drops in 1990 and 1993 (See Table 10: Source: IMF).
The overall ratio of external Debt to GDP for developing countries has had
a downward trend from 1987 to 1996. Overall, the interest payments of
developing countries has decreased from 1987 to 1996. There were mild
increases in 1991, 1993 and 1995, but not significant. The amortisation
decreased from 1987 to 1989 and remained stable in 1990. Thereafter it
fluctuated (within a 20% range) (See Tables 11 and 12: Source: IMF).
The net capital inflows to developing countries and countries in Transition
increased in 1991, dropped in 1992, increased in 1993, dropped in 1994 and
increased again in 1995. The foreign direct investment plus portfolio
investment (net) increased steadily from 1990 to 1993, dropped in 1994 and
increased in 1995. The net foreign direct investment increased steadily from
1990 to 1995. The net portfolio investment increased from 1990 to 1993 and
dropped in 1994 and 1995. The total net capital inflows of all other short- and
long-term credits, loans, currency and deposits, etc., had major fluctuations
from 1990 to 1995. It increased from 1990 to 1991, dropped in 1992 and 1993,
increased in 1994 and 1995 (See Table 13: Source: IMF).
There have been fluctuations in the intraregional flows. They decreased by
13% in 1990, increased in 1991, and decreased in 1992. In 1993 it increased
substantially by 192% and continued with an upward trend to 1995. The trend

92

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

of equity flows from Japan to Asian Developing countries remained between

24.40 to 22.70 billion dollars from 1989 to 1992, thereafter it skyrocketed. In
1993 it increased by 175% and the upward trend (but with mild increases)
continued till 1995. Except for the decreases in 1990 and 1994, the equity
flows from the rest of the world to Asian Developing countries had an upward
trend from 1989 to 1995. The total equity flows to Asian Developing countries
remained between 24.1 to 28.2 billion dollars from 1989 to 1991. It rose
steadily from 1992 to 1995 with a slight drop in 1994. The equity flows from
Japan constituted the bulk of these flows.
8. GLOBAL CAPITAL SCARCITY AND ALLOCATION
In the 1990s, increasing demands will be made for capital and when the supply
of capital will be constrained for various reasons. Besides traditional demands
for capital from the Third World nations, new demands will be made by the
republics of the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations.
Meanwhile, demands for capital in industrialised countries such as the United
States and Germany will remain strong. The World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund can help to mitigate potential capital shortages. However, they
can only play marginal roles at best, and the major role must be played by the
private sector.
In a broader context, the question needs to be raised whether it ever makes
sense for banks to shoulder a substantial responsibility for financing long-term
international capital transfers. Banks in the main have very short-dated
liabilities with interest rate costs that fluctuate widely over a business cycle.
Floating rate financing may very well mitigate the problem of rising liability
costs to the bank, but it will surely contribute to the problems of marginal
borrowers. Moreover, in a market system, it hardly seems advisable for a bank
to put itself in the position of extending credit to official borrowers abroad,
with the near certainty that, if there is a problem somewhere down the road,
the bank will be largely dependent on its own government to negotiate on its
behalf with other governments. Privately-owned banks ought to confine their
activities to market conditions where legal equality is the operative norm.
Other private sources of funds, essentially major multinationals will increase
their exposure internationally. Over time, they will make sizeable direct
investments, particularly in Eastern Europe.
The 1990s could become a decade of international equity rather than of
international debt. The Achilles heel of the past resource transfers to Eastern
Europe and most developing countries was that the financing took the form of
debt, with lending margins that were little different from those available on

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

93

loans to corporations of high credit quality, but with risks that were equity-like
in virtually every one of those countries. Hence, it is simple logic that future
financial resource transfers must take the form of equity-related instruments,
and that means yields to permanent investors must be equity-like as well.
By process of elimination, the main untapped source of financing for the
developing countries and the emerging economies of Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet republics is the risk-taking equity investor. Realistically this
cannot be the retail investor who has little or no interest in investing anywhere
but at home. Therefore, it can only be the large institutional equity investor
from the industrial countries--corporate pension funds, other retirement funds,
investment companies and other specialised financial enterprises, and
insurance companies--which must be attracted to unconventional equity
investments. That will require time and fundamental change by those countries
which would like to see a sizeable transfusion of foreign capital to speed their
economic development and some important changes in the industrial world as
well.
First, there needs to be moderate economic recovery in the industrial
countries that are now in or near recession and continued moderate expansion
in the rest. Too rapid a rebound, rightly or wrongly, will incite inflationary
concerns; interest rates will be pushed up by financial markets; and the relative
attractiveness of foreign investment will diminish.
Second, there needs to be a pronounced change in the composition of
expenditures in many countries. Most importantly, military spending needs to
be de-emphasised globally. Reductions in military spending are required to
help achieve budgetary balance in the developed countries. The resources,
both human and physical, that are devoted to weaponry need to be made
available to the civilian sector, where they can help enterprises achieve higher
rates of return on capital.
Third, there needs to be a continuing process of rehabilitating the financial
health of deposit institutions. This includes regulatory reforms and capital
infusions into marginally capitalised banks. It also would be helpful to have a
continuation of a positively sloped yield curve, which provides opportunities
for banks to increase their earnings by taking modest interest rate risks, rather
than having to absorb additional credit risk.
Fourth, the developing countries have a lot of work to do in making the
transition to a market-based economy. This includes establishing a reliable
legal system, including a reasonable bankruptcy law, dependable and

94

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

transparent accounting standards, adequate protections of the right of an equity

investor to sell his position or repatriate dividends, and a host of supportive
regulatory codes.
Finally, an atmosphere of capital scarcity will force the worlds credit
system onto a sounder footing. There will be less abuse of the credit structure
when credit is harder to come by and the tolerance for financing marginal
investors is reduced. Credit allocation will be based more on disciplined
analysis and objective evaluation of creditworthiness than on what the levels
of fees were and how much the financial intermediary could take out of the
deal for itself.
It is worth bearing in mind that many countries have been able to achieve
highly satisfactory rates of economic growth without relying on access to large
amounts of foreign capital. What is necessary is a framework of law,
institutions, government policies, and social attitudes that reward effort,
promote change, and rely on markets. But access to moderate amounts of
foreign capital does provide clear benefits: One, it allows a country to let its
consumers enjoy a better living standard, even as it maintains a high rate of
business investment, and this can have a definite impact on motivation and the
willingness to work hard. Two, it allows domestic businesses to leapfrog the
level of technology that they might otherwise have had to settle for. And three,
it helps keep a lid on inflation while these positive developments are taking
place. The trouble arises when the foreign capital comes in too readily, in
unsustainably large volumes, and in the wrong form.
9. THE DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF GLOBAL BOND AND EQUITY
MARKET
The rapid shift to a global securities market is a result of two major trends that
accelerated through the 1980s and are set to continue into the next century.
The first is a significant increase in the demand for a global securities market.
The key source of this demand is the pool of institutional assets which have
grown exponentially and have diversified internationally. The second is
deregulation which has opened up the worlds economies and securities
markets, increasing the breadth and depth of investment opportunities.
The expected growth in the global pension fund industry is staggering.
According to the InterSec Research Group, a US pension consultant, global
pension funds will top $11.2 trillion in assets by the end of 1999, an increase
of 59% from the $7 trillion at the end of 1995. International investments will
form the largest part of that growth, more than doubling to $1.7 trillion from

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

95

$788 billion last year. To put this in perspective, international growth

represents a 464% increase from $302 billion invested outside domestic
markets at the end of 1989.
Much of the increased commitment to overseas investment has and will
continue to come from the major pension markets, given their dominant size.
The US, Japan and UK pension funds, for example, accounted for 80% of total
global pension assets last year, with total assets of $5.7 trillion. US pension
assets alone ($3.76 trillion) accounted for 53% of global pension assets. These
assets are set to grow sharply, particularly as a result of changing legislation
covering state funds in Europe. In addition, as a result of ageing populations in
the Western economies, there will be a rapid rise in the private provision of
pensions forcing individuals to invest in markets for the first time.
But it is not so much the growth of pension fund assets that is creating the
global market place, rather the decision to diversify pension assets overseas. A
geographically diversified portfolio has a superior risk/return profile to single
country portfolios. It is widely agreed amongst the actuarial profession that a
30% diversification to overseas assets gives the maximum benefit of risk
reduction, irrespective of base country. Of the major pension industries in the
world, only the UK is near to this target at 28%.
While InterSec expect British pension funds to keep overseas investments
at around 28% of assets, they expect a significant move into foreign markets
by US and Japanese funds. US pension funds have more than doubled their
international investments over the past five years. These investments are
expected to increase further from 8% of assets in 1994 to 12.5% by the end of
1999. This would increase overseas funds to $725 billion from $300 billion,
19.3% compound growth rate during the period.
In Japan, foreign investment has contracted because of the combined effect
of the collapse of the local equity market and the weakness of the US Dollar.
Overseas investment by Japanese institutions is expected to triple to $252
billion from $85 billion last year over a five-year period ending 1999. A surge
in foreign investment by Japanese public pension funds, triggered by the
liberalisation of pension rules by the Japanese government, will be a major
factor in the funds flowing into international investments.
The process of deregulation has been led by a massive wave of
privatisations and international equity offerings over the last ten years. The
trend towards privatisation both boosts the liquidity and market capitalisation
in individual markets as well as raises the scope for cross-border investment.

96

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

The UKs success with its privatisation program has encouraged state selloffs elsewhere in the world. The increase in shares of privatised corporations
around the world has raised the liquidity of the global capital market and the
interest by investors in them. The deliberate underpricing of most issues has
helped the markets willingness to accept privatisation issues. Privatisation,
which involves international distribution, is intensifying the development of
the global market. The process includes a wide marketing effort to investment
institutions. Moreover, the trend towards privatisation is not restricted to the
major economies. Despite the collapse last year in the Mexican market, the
enthusiasm for privatisation issues from Latin America, Asia and Africa has
been undiminished, while investors long-term belief in these markets remains
intact. In 1994 governments from emerging markets raised a total of $17.6
billion, about $2 billion more than in 1993.
Privatisation has led to an increasing tendency for investors to look at the
world in terms of large global industries and to compare stock valuations
across markets. Privatisation has given the world markets large
telecommunications and electric utilities to trade in and compare, while
deregulation and the increase in world trade has put them, and other industries
such as steel, mining, pharmaceuticals and oil, into competition with each
other, in what were once their own protected markets. It is, therefore,
increasingly possible to compare Thyssen with British Steel or Roche with Eli
Lilly and view them as competing investment alternatives. This focus on
global industries is, of course, also making it easier for large multinational
companies to raise both debt and equity on stock markets across the world,
rather than concentrating on the market where their main listings lie.
In addition to the growth in the international equity markets, there has
been a significant expansion in the sources of international debt finance. For
example, total net issues of Euronotes and international bonds soared by 45%
between 1993 and 1994. Announcements of new Euro-securities surged to
$197.2 billion last year. Despite the rise in world interest rates in 1994,
announcements of international bond issues were still equal to $372 billion last
year.
The growth of financial derivative instruments has benefited global
markets by providing liquidity to institutional investors and facilitating
portfolio construction. A major shift between countries can be made cheaply
and quickly through the futures markets, without having to sell the underlying
securities.

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

97

Improvements in infrastructure, the regulatory environment and

information technology are rapidly being put into place in order to facilitate
the increasing free flow of capital around the world. This is essential if the
trends of the last fifteen years are to be continued.
A key barrier to the development of a global capital market is the
multitude of different accounting standards. That has meant accounts prepared
in one country are frequently difficult for investors in another market to
comprehend. Eliminating such barriers will stimulate capital flows through the
improvement in investor confidence.
In July 1995, an agreement between IOSCO, the International
Organisation of Securities Commissions, and the International Accounting
Standards Committee (IASC) was a significant step towards creating a unified
global accounting standard. It is hoped that by 1999, companies preparing their
accounts according to IASC rules will be able to list their shares on any of the
worlds capital markets. More importantly, they will be able to list their shares
in the US, gaining more immediate access to the worlds biggest capital
market, without adapting to stringent US rules. Unlisted American Depository
Receipts (ADRS) have, until now, been the only way most non-US companies
have of tapping the US market.
Governments have played a key role in the development of a global
securities market by opening up their markets to foreign investors. The most
important development was the wholesale removal of exchange controls in the
1970s and 1980s. The process of liberalisation continues.
Authorities in a number of countries continue to deregulate their domestic
bond markets and facilitate access by domestic companies to Eurobond
financing. Measures taken in domestic markets have generally been designed
to improve efficiency, liquidity and cost-effectiveness for resident issuers and
to make the markets more attractive to foreign investors. For example, in Italy
the stamp duty on the regulated trading of government bonds was removed; in
Portugal the 20% withholding tax imposed on foreign holders of government
bonds was abolished and non-residents are allowed to issue on the domestic
market without requiring official permission; in Switzerland the authorisation
requirement for foreign issuers was lifted in February 1995. In Japan there
have been widespread initiatives to remove the restrictions on foreign issues of
Euro-yen bonds while about $200 billion of public pension funds have been
opened up to foreign investment advisers.

98

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Capital Requirements for market operators (brokers, banks, etc.) are being
stepped up in many countries. The norm is to use Bank of International
Settlement guidelines. This encourages major international investors. Listing
Qualifications increasingly seek to meet international criteria in terms of
financial history, share capital structure and liquidity, etc., though efforts have
been made to create simpler qualifications for small companies. Compliance
with new insider trading and market manipulation rules is being enforced.
Market operatives are being required to pass professional exams to ensure
compliance with best practices, and thereby helping to create universal
professional standards and greater transparency. Membership of exchanges is
increasingly being opened up to foreign participants.
The technological revolution, aided by information services such as
Reuters and Bloomberg, is rapidly improving the dissemination of financial
news and the exchange of information around the world. Other developments
in CD ROMs and interactive communications systems will also facilitate
international communications for financial services.
Screen-based trading systems are not only leading to the demise of
traditional trading floors, but also opening up the possibility of direct access to
markets from overseas locations. For example, a new electronic trading system
is being introduced on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in 1996. The
Globex system has been developed in conjunction with Reuters. The CME has
heralded the advance of Globex as the benchmark for the industry, and has
made an effort to sign up other exchanges in a bid to turn Globex into an
industry-wide network. The LIFFE electronic system, APT, has so far been
used to extend the trading day on the London Futures Exchange. Although
only currently used for an hour and half a day, it is likely to be extended to
replace the floor system.
At the end of 1993, a new electronic trading system, Bridge, was
established between Cedel and Euroclear thereby eliminating a time delay
between the delivery of securities and payment for them. With the move to
electronic overnight processing, Cedel can settle trades with Euroclear on the
same day.
Such developments will clearly contribute to improving the access of
exchanges to investors around the world, as well as to providing global 24hour trading. They will also bring considerable savings in transaction costs as
well as improving processing speed and accuracy and market liquidity.

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

99

An important factor that promises to ensure the continued growth of

international investment is the increasingly sophisticated custodian and
settlements practices. Improving standards are being fuelled by international
regulatory drives and technological advances. In the UK, the move to a fiveday settlement halves the previous settlement period. The US runs a five-day
selling settlement; Japan three days; France three days and Germany two days,
while the situation in emerging markets is tougher. Swifter settlements is a
world-wide trend stimulated by the desire to reduce the risk of failed trades
and by the rapidly growing number of securities in issue. There are likely to be
more improvements in the future. Taiwan, for example, settles on a T+1 basis
now.
Coupled with improved settlement practices, the growth of custodial and
settlement agency facilities is increasingly being restructured and dominated
by a handful of global banks, such as HSBC, which have the international
reach and technological capability to handle the massive increase in this
business. The benefits of such concentration include greater efficiency,
security and lower costs. To institutional investors, however, the greatest
benefit is the knowledge that even in some of the worlds more exotic
emerging markets, their trades will be settled.
The success of American Depository Receipts (ADRS) in encouraging
international companies to raise capital from US stock markets is well known.
They enable companies to access foreign capital while giving US investors an
ability to settle trades and receive dividends in their home market and
currency. Global Depository Receipts (GDRS) are a new form of this type of
instrument, increasing the potential for raising capital and liquidity. Typically,
GDRs are issued to facilitate a London or other European listing, but priced in
dollars in conjunction with a local equity issue. The convenience of trading
GDRs is popular with investors and will therefore grow in importance. This
may, in part, substitute for trading on local exchanges, as has been the case in
Latin America. If that continues to happen, the fear of losing trading business
to off-shore exchanges can only spur local stock markets in developing
countries to reforms that make their markets more attractive for international
investors.
10. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Expanding global capital markets have brought many benefits to both the
developed and developing nations. However, global capital markets also have
produced various shortcomings. The emerging new world order should face
these difficult shortcomings, which centre on problems such as the potential

100

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

for financial instability; the lack of international rules of the road in key
areas; the inability of national regulators to keep pace with certain financial
innovations; the tendency of many institutions to take on high debt levels that
are not prudent; and the reality that international economic agencies
sometimes lack a clear mandate or mission. Added to these are the issues of
capital shortages and the plight of the Third World.
During periods of global economic stability, such as the 1950s and 1960s,
international finance has contributed significantly to economic growth. Within
the total flows of capital to developing countries, shifts from equity to debt
financing and from official to private sources were to be expected. As
developing economies grow and their structure change, their relations with the
world economy increasingly resemble those of the industrial countries. As
industry expands, as exports shift from primary to manufacturing products, as
the domestic financial system matures, so developing countries increase their
ability to exploit opportunities in international financial markets. However, the
flow of private external capital to developing countries did not increase
slowly, in line with their economic progress. It expanded suddenly in the
1970s and was accompanied by unprecedented imbalances in international
payments. The potential for using foreign capital to expand investment was
therefore limited by the immediate need to pay for dearer oil.
Emerging market countries have been prone to banking problems; the
problems have been costly, and they have the potential to spill across national
borders. Hence, the extension of international supervisory arrangements to
include emerging market countries is important not only to safeguard the
stability of the international financial system, but also to increase the
effectiveness of the surveillance over domestic banking institutions in
emerging markets. The growing internationalisation of the financial sectors in
emerging market countries--including increased access to offshore derivative
transactions for the purpose of blunting the impact of domestic financial
regulations--also implies that a supervisory approach with a national focus will
be inadequate. Furthermore, the extent to which the emerging market countries
will be integrated into the international financial system will depend largely on
their success in raising supervisory standards and the risk-management
capabilities of internationally active financial firms to international standards.
Closer integration of the supervisory authorities in emerging market
countries into a co-operative international arrangement for the supervision of
international banking markets would have at least five main benefits: it would
facilitate the surveillance over international banks on a consolidated basis a
necessary condition for the effective supervision of the banking sector; it

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

101

would facilitate a broader and more intensive exchange of relevant supervisory

information; it would create a co-operative atmosphere helpful for the quick
resolution of financial crises; it would provide the emerging market countries
with an opportunity to have their views reflected in the formulation of
international agreements in the supervisory and regulatory area; and
membership in an international arrangement and the possibility of being
identified as not being in compliance with international standards would
provide increased authority and incentives for supervisors to achieve a timely
and credible implementation of internationally agreed regulatory and
supervisory standards.
A number of conclusions can be drawn on the impact of globalisation on
the capital and financial markets of the developing countries. First, the
underlying financial problem of the world is in its scope: it is the problem of
too much debt and too little equity. It is as much of an obstacle to adequate
capital formation in the advanced Western countries, including especially the
United States, as it is in Eastern Europe and in developing countries elsewhere.
Second, relying primarily on more debt to finance the physical capital
needs of the emerging economies is mistaken and will not succeed in
supporting either higher levels of capital investment or greater economic
efficiency. What will be successful are significant capital transfers that take
the form of equity. But an emphasis on equity investment carries with it
preconditions for the recipients as well as the providers.
Third, the major commercial banks will play a supporting role but not a
leading role in facilitating global transfers of financial resources. They will not
resume large-scale balance of payments lending during the decade of the
1990s, to the former Soviet republics or anyone else, unless they can pass the
risks onto their governments or onto one of the multilateral official lending
institutions.
Fourth, whether there is a useful shift toward equity financing or whether
financial flows stay mainly in the form of debt, financing of looming capital
needs will almost surely involve some degree of regional specialisation.
European investors will focus on Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
republics. The Japanese will concentrate on east and Southeast Asia. The US
investors will lean somewhat toward investing in Mexico and the rest of Latin
America. This greater regionalism in finance may provide certain benefits.
Investment decisions are apt to be better when they are made by investors who
are committed to a particular market and who are prepared to do whatever is
necessary to gain an intimate insight into the workings of the enterprises in

102

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

which they invest. But there will be a policy challenge to keep financial
regionalism from justifying a departure from the liberal, multilateral
environment for world trade that we all benefit from.
REFERENCES
Boote, Anthony R. and Others, Official Market Financing for Developing
Countries, World Economic and Financial Surveys, Washington, International
Monetary Fund, 1995.
Choudhury, Masudul Alam, The Nature of Globalisation and the Muslim
World, Managerial Finance, volume 22, no. 5/6 (1996), pp. 7-30.
Choudhury, Masudul Alam, Islamic Economic Cooperation, London,
MacMillan, and New York, St. Martins Press, 1989.
Claessens, Stijin and Sudarshan Gooptu, edited, Portfolio Investment in
Developing Countries, Washington, D.C., World Bank Discussion Papers, no.
228, 1993.
Dunaway, Steven and Others, Private Market Financing for Developing
Countries, World Economic and Financial Surveys, Washington D.C.,
International Monetary Fund, March 1995.
Folkerts-Landau, David, Takatoshi Ito and Others, International Capital
Markets: Developments, Prospects, and Policy Issues, World Economic and
Financial Surveys, Washington, International Monetary Fund, August 1995.
Eichengreen, Barry, Globalizing Capital: A History of International Monetary
System, Princeton University Press, N.J., USA, 1996.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), Emerging Stock Markets Factbook,
Washington, D.C., 1994, 1995, 1996.
International Monetary Fund, Private Market Financing for Developing
Countries, Washington, D.C., 1995.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, 1995, Washington,
D.C., 1996.
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, 1996, Washington,
D.C., 1996.

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

103

Popiel, Paul A. Development of Money and Capital Markets, EDI Working

Papers, World Bank, Economic Development Institute, Washington, D.C.,
1987.
Van Agtmael, Antoine, Emerging Securities Markets: Investment Banking
Opportunities in the Developing World, Euromoney, London, 1984.
Virmani, Arvind, The Nature of Credit Markets in Developing Countries: A
Framework for Policy Analysis, World Bank Staff Working Paper no.524,
Washington, D.C., 1982.
Von Pischke, J.D. Dale W. Adams, and Gordon Donald, Rural Financial
Markets in Developing Countries, Baltimore, Maryland, Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1983.
Watson, Maxwell and others, International Capital Markets: Developments
and Prospects, Washington, D.C., International Monetary Fund, 1988.
The World Bank, World Development Report, 1996, Oxford University Press.

104

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

105

106

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

107

108

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

109

110

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

111

112

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

113

114

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

115

116

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

117

118

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

119

120

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

121

122

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

123

124

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

125

126

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

127

128

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

129

130

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

131

132

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

133

134

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries

Impact of Globalisation on the Financial Markets of the Developing Countries

135

136

Journal of Economic Cooperation Among Islamic Countries