Japan's ODA rises to $14.72b

Japan's ODA rises to $14.72b

TOKYO (Reuter): Japan's Official Development Assistance (ODA) rose to US$14.72 billion in 1995, up 9.3 percent from the year before, a senior official Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.

The preliminary figure comprised $10.55 billion in bilateral assistance and $4.17 billion in aid via multilateral institutions, all of which had been paid out, he said. Bilateral assistance consists of grants, technical assistance and government loans.

It included ODA to East European nations and to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the official said.

On a yen basis, Japan's ODA for 1995 rose to 1.3849 trillion yen, up 0.6 percent from the previous year, he said.

Currency conversion rates used for the ODA calculation were 94.07 yen to the dollar for 1995 and 102.23 yen for 1994.

ODA accounted for 0.28 percent of Japan's gross national product (GNP) in 1995, down from 0.29 percent of GNP in 1994, the official said. GNP is the value of goods and services produced in a given period.

By region, ODA to the rest of Asia was 54.5 percent of the total in 1995, down from 57.3 percent in 1994. ODA to Africa rose to 12.6 percent from 11.8 percent. Latin America accounted for 10.8 percent, up from 8.6 percent.

Japan allocated 44.5 percent of its 1995 ODA funds and technologies to projects to enhance economic infrastructure in developing nations, up from 41.2 percent the previous year.

Projects to support social infrastructure took 26.7 percent of ODA in 1995, up from 23.2 percent the year before, and those for agriculture 9.4 percent against 9.6 percent.