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.