Aso to unveil 2 tril. yen in aid for Asia at London summit+

TOKYO, March 30 Kyodo - Prime Minister Taro Aso is set to announce that Japan will boost its aid to Asian economies hit hard by the current economic crisis by 500 billion yen to 2 trillion yen during a two-day global financial summit from Wednesday in London,
government sources said Monday.

In January, Aso pledged that Tokyo will provide 1.5 trillion yen in official
development assistance to Asian neighbors in an address to an annual meeting of
the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Of the additional 500 billion yen, up to 300 billion yen will be offered in the
form of emergency yen loans to help Asian nations boost domestic demand and
bolster their faltering economies, the sources said.
Separately, Japan is also considering financial support for Asian
infrastructure projects dedicated to environmental conservation, they said.
The emergency yen loans will not finance specific projects but will be
channeled to recipient governments to help them implement necessary policy
measures to boost growth. Asian economies face difficulties in carrying out
stimulus measures due to sharp falls in their tax revenues amid the downturn.
Tokyo last offered such emergency loans to Asian neighbors during the 1997-1998
regional financial crisis, Aso's aides said.
Unlike the conventional yen loan program, Tokyo will swiftly endorse the new
type of loans, which will be offered to economies that also receive aid from
the World Bank and other multilateral development banks such as the Asian
Development Bank, the aides said.
The emergency loans with floating interest rates will be due for repayment in
15 years. Japan will stop providing such aid to Asian economies at the end of
March 2012 because it is an emergency step, they said.
==Kyodo
2009-03-30 23:47:04