OTHER NEWS - Dec. 29, 1994

Russia Is High Default Risk, Report Says: Russia has more than two chances out of three of defaulting on a loan, Congress was told as the new Republican majority prepared to review foreign aid policies. The General Accounting Office responded to a request from Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), outgoing chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, by estimating the long-run probability of default for 170 countries. It figured the chances of Russia defaulting at 67.6%, whatever the term of a loan may be. The report, dated Dec. 19, was made available this week. When a country fails to keep up payments on a loan, the result is usually negotiations that end in agreement to stretch the payment schedule over several years. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has fallen behind on many of its debts, including those on U.S. government-guaranteed loans taken out to pay for grain and other food supplies.