Trade, debt and finance

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo raised the issue of developing countries’ access to trade finance at a seminar of the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance in March and again at the Third UN Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa in July. Trading companies, in particular from developing countries, find increasing difficulties in accessing trade finance. DG Azevêdo pledged to consult multilateral partners and make concrete proposals in the first half of 2016. The Working Group continued efforts to improve understanding of the links between exchange rates and trade.