and criteria is the concept of conditionality, which refers to policies that nations are expected to agree to implement and observe, as a requirement, before a balance of payments loan or development loan is extended from any of the special financing facilities. All loans are distributed in increments so the IMF may monitor the borrowing nation's adherence to the conditions established. Rich societies are not "interested in turning poorer societies into independent and prosperous ones. Rather, they are interested in keeping poorer areas dependent, and overspecialized in the production of certain cheap goods. Balanced development in poorer societies, therefore, is likely to meet the active resistance of the rich societies" (Chirot, 1977, p. 9).
Complicating the stabilization problem in most developing countries in the contemporary period is the massive external debt owed by these nations. Many analysts view the external debt as essential for continued development in these countries; however, all analysts recognize the com
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