Thailand signs $1.45b loan

Thailand signs $1.45b loan

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan has agreed to lend 151.79 billion yen (US$1.45 billion) to Thailand to help improve the country's exports and infrastructure, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said on Tuesday.

The agreement, signed in Bangkok on Tuesday, included 36 billion yen ($342 million) in an agriculture sector loan aimed at helping Thailand improve its balance of payments position, the ministry said in a statement.

The agricultural loan is part of $1.85 billion in aid pledged by Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi last December to Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai as part of Japan's $30 billion "New Miyazawa Initiative" aid package for Asia's crisis-hit countries.

The loan, co-financed by the Asian Development Bank, carries an interest rate of 1.0 percent with 25 years to maturity, including a grace period of seven years.

The remaining 115.79 billion yen ($1.10 billion) will fund infrastructure projects.

Bangkok projects covered by the package include 64.2 billion yen ($610 million) in loans for an underground railway, 33.4 billion yen ($318 million) for an international airport and 12.6 billion yen ($120 million) for a water system.