OTHER NEWS - May 25, 1996

Japan Remains World’s Largest Creditor: The Asian nation kept its status as the country with the largest amount of overseas assets for a fifth straight year in 1995, the Finance Ministry said. Net foreign holdings reached a record $719 billion at the end of the year, it said. Assets grew last year partly because investors in Japan, where interest rates are at record lows, put money into foreign stocks and bonds in a search for higher returns. Another reason was a steady migration of Japanese firms moving manufacturing bases overseas to take advantage of lower costs. In 1994, net holdings stood at $624 billion, which was also a record. The year-on-year increase of 15.2% in 1995 was the largest since 1992, when net foreign assets rose 35% to $599 billion.