JBIC, Commercial Banks to Lend 2.2 B. Dollars for U.S. Investment

Tokyo, May 1 (Jiji Press)–The government-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation said Friday it has signed contracts to provide about 2,221 million dollars in joint loans with commercial banks for the first round of investment projects in the United States that were agreed as part of Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations. The total investment in the three projects will reach 36 billion dollars. The planned loans will be the first tranche of the investment in the three projects. Additional loans will be provided according to progress in the projects. MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank are expected to participate in the co-financing, with the commercial banks covering two-thirds of the loans and JBIC the rest. Nippon Export and Investment Insurance will provide insurance for the private-sector loans to help the banks mitigate their risks. The three projects are the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Ohio, crude oil export infrastructure in Texas and a synthetic diamond production facility in Georgia. In bilateral tariff negotiations, Japan pledged to make investments and loans of up to 550 billion dollars in the United States as a condition for lowering U.S. tariffs on Japan. In March, the second round of investment projects, including the construction of next-generation small nuclear reactors, was announced, raising expectations for increases in loans from Japan to the United States. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]