News In Brief

Rockefeller chastises US for stinginess in foreign aid

Multimillionaire David Rockefeller on Saturday chastised the United States for trimming its foreign-aid program to the world's poorest countries as ''a pretty shabby performance.''

Mr. Rockefeller, speaking to a convention of the American Bankers Association , said the US fathered the foreign-aid concept with the Marshall Plan for European recovery after World War II, but that US efforts have declined markedly since then.

''Foreign assistance between 1948 and 1952 averaged a full 15 percent of overall US federal spending,'' he said. ''Today the figure is 1.7 percent.'' Measured as a percentage of gross national product, the US once led the world in its generosity but now it has slipped to 16th place, he added.