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.