- also called:
- developing-world debt or debt of developing countries
Third World debt, debt accumulated by Third World (developing) countries. The term is typically used to refer specifically to the external debt those countries owe to developed countries and multilateral lending institutions.
Learn about good debt and bad debt.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The rapid growth in the external debt of developing countries first became a key issue in the early 1980s, and it persisted into the 21st century. Debt itself is not something that is unique to the developing world. Debt becomes a potential problem only when the borrower is unable to generate sufficient funds to meet the repayments. Many developing (and some developed) countries have…
