Multilateralisation of the Intra-CMEA Trade

Bilateralism is spawned by the exceptional situations such as the ones that follow in the aftermath of a war when the countries do not have enough stock of convertible currencies and exportable goods to pay for the imports. Under these circumstances the countries enter into bilateral trading arrangements with other countries to avoid the payments in gold or convertible currencies. An extreme case of a bilateral settlement is a barter transaction where a certain quantity of goods is exchanged for an agreed quantity of other goods involving no currency - either as a medium of exchange or even as a unit of account. But in general bilateral agreements constitute in effect a first concrete step away from national autarky and towards the resumption of international trade and payments.