
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160118
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LOANS TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES INCREASING

Third World countries are borrowing at a faster rate from the United States and other more affluent lands, the World Bank reported Wednesday in Washington.

But officials predict the borrowing countries will benefit if the new money is used well.

The bank estimates total developing-nation debt will reach $1.77 trillion this year, up $110 billion over 1992.

"It's not a question of whether a country incurs more debt or not, but what it does with it," said Michael Bruno, an Israeli who is the World Bank's top economist.

He explained that many governments which borrowed billions in the 1970s, and then could not pay debts in the 1980s, had used the money for consumption - not for investment which produces more income and jobs. He added that countries which did make productive investments, particularly in East Asia, had made substantial reductions in poverty. - Associated Press

by CNB