 total debt. Source: Standard and Poor's database. have reduced their debt in anticipation of the emergence of competition. Countries which have seen increased investment in recent years, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, have increased their debt, although US companies are now looking to reduce debt. It remains to be seen how market reforms and the development of competitive electricity markets will affect the debt-equity structure in the future, and in particular whether the share of equity will move toward the high levels typical in the oil industry. In non-OECD countries, where utilities are often state-owned and profitability and revenue collection are poor, capital often comes from the government or from multilateral lending agencies, such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank. In most developing countries, market reforms have been largely focused on the opening of the electricity sector to private investment, rather than on establishing competitive wholesale and retail markets. Many countries initiated reforms in the 1990s, aimed at attracting private domestic and foreign investment. The initial response was encouraging, but private investment declined rapidly after 1997 (Figure 3.15). Total private sector investment in electricity between 1990 and 2003 in developing countries amounted to USD 249 billion in 2003 dollars. Brazil and other Latin American countries attracted about half of it. However, much of it was spent on existing assets that were privatised rather than on new projects (Izaguirre, 2004). INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 OUTLOOK FOR GLOBAL INVESTMENT IN ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE Figure 3.15. Investment in electricity infrastructure projects with private participation in developing countries, 1990-2003 Billion dollars (2000) Source: World Bank Private Participation in Infrastructure database. Reasons for the recent sharp decline in private investment include badly designed investment and en