Japan remains top aid donor

Japan remains top aid donor

TOKYO (DPA): Japan remained the world's biggest donor of official development assistance (ODA) for the ninth consecutive year in 1999, with its aid to Asian countries rising to help their recovery from the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, Japan's Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Japan's ODA in 1999 surged 44 per cent from the previous year to US$15.3 billion, the ministry said.

The ministry attributed the sharp rise mainly to $3.3 billion donated as funds to help Asian countries recover from the financial crisis. The yen's appreciation against the dollar also contributed to boosting the ODA value in dollar terms, it said.

Japan's ODA to Asian countries grew 23.4 per cent to 6.63 billion dollars accounting for 63.2 per cent of its overall bilateral assistance, up from 62.4 per cent in 1998.

Japan's ratio of ODA to gross national product increased to 0.35 per cent from 0.28 per cent, ranking seventh among the world's 22 ODA donor countries, up from 12th in 1998. Denmark took the top spot with 1.0 per cent.