ID :
30420
Sat, 11/15/2008 - 23:23
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/30420
The shortlink copeid
Local public entities lose 33 bil. yen on land sales in Japan+
TOKYO, Nov. 15 Kyodo - Land development corporations of 11 prefectural and six municipal governments
in Japan have lost a total of 32.5 billion yen on sales of idled lands since
fiscal 2004 as large gaps have sprung up between their book and market prices,
according to a Kyodo News survey.
The land development corporations acquired many of the lands during the 1990s,
including the closing years of Japan's bubble-economy era, at the request of
the local governments, which feared that land prices would rise further and
drive up the costs of their public works projects.
But they have finally been selling such lands as interest payments to banks
from which they had taken out loans to fund the purchases had placed heavy
strains on the treasuries of the local governments, according to the public
entities and local governments polled by Kyodo News.
Land development corporations of other local governments are expected to sell
such lands en masse and incur losses in the coming years as local governments
are required to evaluate their fiscal health in view of the corporations'
financial conditions, starting in fiscal 2008.
In fiscal 2004, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications urged local
governments to assess the values of long-held lands at market prices if prices
of lands they cannot use for public works immediately had fallen sharply from
their original acquisition prices.
Among entities that incurred losses, Yokohama Land Development Public Corp.
posted the biggest loss at 15.6 billion yen, selling various lands including a
section of the Minato Mirai 21 redevelopment area facing Yokohama port. The
section was sold to Nissan Motor Co.
The Yokohama city government has since covered a 2.1 billion yen portion of the
loss with public funds.
The land corporation of the Osaka prefectural government racked up the
second-biggest loss at 10.7 billion yen. The local government covered the loss
fully.
Among others, the land corporation of the Kyoto city government incurred a loss
of 2.7 billion yen, while that of the Kawasaki city government chalked up 1.1
billion yen.
The Kyoto land corporation said it paid 1 billion yen in cumulative interest
during the 32-year period through 2005 when it sold a 12,000-square-meter land
area it had acquired in 1973 for a road project.
Asked why they sold their long-held lands, the land corporation of the Nagano
prefectural government said it did so ''to prevent a further ballooning of
losses with a speedy disposal.''
The land corporation of the Ibaraki prefectural government said, ''It is
impossible to expect land prices to go up down the track.''
Forty-four of Japan's 47 prefectures and many municipal governments run a total
of some 1,100 land development public corporations, which owned a total of
15,000 hectares of lands as of March 31 last year. Their combined book value
stood at 3.9 trillion yen. More than 10 years have elapsed for 55 percent of
the lands since they were originally bought.
==Kyodo
2008-11-15 22:10:10
in Japan have lost a total of 32.5 billion yen on sales of idled lands since
fiscal 2004 as large gaps have sprung up between their book and market prices,
according to a Kyodo News survey.
The land development corporations acquired many of the lands during the 1990s,
including the closing years of Japan's bubble-economy era, at the request of
the local governments, which feared that land prices would rise further and
drive up the costs of their public works projects.
But they have finally been selling such lands as interest payments to banks
from which they had taken out loans to fund the purchases had placed heavy
strains on the treasuries of the local governments, according to the public
entities and local governments polled by Kyodo News.
Land development corporations of other local governments are expected to sell
such lands en masse and incur losses in the coming years as local governments
are required to evaluate their fiscal health in view of the corporations'
financial conditions, starting in fiscal 2008.
In fiscal 2004, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications urged local
governments to assess the values of long-held lands at market prices if prices
of lands they cannot use for public works immediately had fallen sharply from
their original acquisition prices.
Among entities that incurred losses, Yokohama Land Development Public Corp.
posted the biggest loss at 15.6 billion yen, selling various lands including a
section of the Minato Mirai 21 redevelopment area facing Yokohama port. The
section was sold to Nissan Motor Co.
The Yokohama city government has since covered a 2.1 billion yen portion of the
loss with public funds.
The land corporation of the Osaka prefectural government racked up the
second-biggest loss at 10.7 billion yen. The local government covered the loss
fully.
Among others, the land corporation of the Kyoto city government incurred a loss
of 2.7 billion yen, while that of the Kawasaki city government chalked up 1.1
billion yen.
The Kyoto land corporation said it paid 1 billion yen in cumulative interest
during the 32-year period through 2005 when it sold a 12,000-square-meter land
area it had acquired in 1973 for a road project.
Asked why they sold their long-held lands, the land corporation of the Nagano
prefectural government said it did so ''to prevent a further ballooning of
losses with a speedy disposal.''
The land corporation of the Ibaraki prefectural government said, ''It is
impossible to expect land prices to go up down the track.''
Forty-four of Japan's 47 prefectures and many municipal governments run a total
of some 1,100 land development public corporations, which owned a total of
15,000 hectares of lands as of March 31 last year. Their combined book value
stood at 3.9 trillion yen. More than 10 years have elapsed for 55 percent of
the lands since they were originally bought.
==Kyodo
2008-11-15 22:10:10
