Exim Bank's loans rise 220%

Exim Bank's loans rise 220%

TOKYO (Nikkei): The Export-Import Bank of Japan extended a
record Y699.2 billion in loans to Southeast Asian nations between
January and June, up 220 percent from the same period a year ago,
according to The Nihon Keizai Shimbun's Wednesday morning
edition.

The government-affiliated bank attributed the jump mainly to
trade financing it provided companies having liquidity problems
in Thailand and Indonesia. Both countries are battling currency
and economic crises.

The bank made 113 loans to Asian companies and organizations
in the six months, double that of a year ago. In the April-June
period alone, the Export-Import Bank extended a total of Y280
billion in lending to the region.

In the first half of 1998, the bank supplied a total of Y1.28
trillion in lending around the world, 60 percent-70 percent of
which is estimated to have gone to Asia, including Southeast Asia
and South Korea.

The institution will most likely make additional loans to the
area, as it will take at least a few more years for Asian
economies to recover from their current crises, the sources said.