Trade and Development Report 2004: Policy Coherence, Development Strategies and Integration Into the World Economy

The current edition of the Trade and Development Report focuses on the global economic recovery currently underway. The Report raises questions about its considerable downside risks stemming from oil prices and exchange rates and the fact that both the sources and incidence of growth are unequally distributed around the globe. The TDR 2004 argues that, to enable developing countries to establish a virtuous interaction between external financing, domestic investment and export growth, a feasible development agenda has to be based on the concept of "coherence". UNCTAD warns that attempts by many countries to keep their currencies undervalued could end up in competitive devaluations that could be disastrous for the world economy. UNCTAD suggests that changes in the exchange rate that imply deviation from purchasing-power parity should be governed by multilateral regulations.