This surplus was a remarkable achievement taking into account the substantial increase in the country’s oil import bill as well as sharp increases in the volume of imports from the second half of 1999. The strong performance of the current account can largely be attributed to the growth in merchandise exports.
The outcome of the events of the 1930s and their aftermath clearly do not support the fine objective of this line of reasoning neither do the present imbalances and the present market volatility. And it is not only public policy that tends to overvalue national interest and undervalue international interests but also the market mechanism seems to produce a similar outcome.