Japan to boost foreign aid by $10b in 5 years
Reuters, Gleneagles, Scotland
Japan will boost its overseas aid by $10 billion over 5 years. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday a decision that comes as Tokyo pushes to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.The plan to boost Japan's official development assistance, which has fallen over the last few years due to the constraints of a rising public debt burden, was announced at a summit of Group of Eight industrialised nations in Scotland. "We will increase official development assistance (ODA) over 5 years. We will add an additional $10 billion," a Japanese official quoted Koizumi as saying during a G8 session that discussed aid for Africa a top item on the summit agenda. The aid increase would not be aimed specifically at Africa but would affect Japan's overseas aid around the world, the official told reporters. At 0.19 percent of gross national income in 2004, Japan's ODA falls well short of a 0.7 percent target set by the United Nations.
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