International Business / The Pacific

Investment in Third World Sets Records: But the countries’ international debt is also growing, particularly in the poorest countries, the World Bank said. The poorest countries need to change their economic policies if they want to improve their standing, said Michael Bruno, the bank’s chief economist. Annual foreign direct investment in poor countries has more than tripled in the last five years, the bank said. It rose to $90.3 billion in 1995, a 13% increase over 1994. At the same time, poor countries’ debt rose to $2.07 trillion. Bruno called the overall situation favorable, despite the Mexican debt crisis, which led to significant declines in Third World stock markets.