Japan plans to refinance Burma’s debts
- Written by Mizzima News
- Category: Investment
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The Japanese government plans to resume low-interest loans to Burma as early as next year for the first time since the late 1980s, according to reports in the Japanese media.
The yen loans are expected to be announced at an aid conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
The loans are intended to promote economic development and are also designed to help Japanese companies start businesses in Burma, which has experienced a huge increase in support from Asian and western countries following the US lifting of various sanctions and reopening the door to normal relations with the former military regime, according to a story on the Daily Yomiuri online website.
The loan resumption is conditional on the elimination of Burma’s external debt obligations, which involves the Japanese government refinancing Burma’s debts. The government-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation would extend bridge loans to repay Burma’s debts, including those to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
An agreement on the plan is likely to be reached at the Burma aid meeting held on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Japan this week, officials said.