MPs to mull Japan’s soft loan offer
Parliament will decide this week whether or not to accept a US$824 million soft loan from Japan. The government has proposed the loan to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw for a range of capital projects, including aid to farmers, building roads and bridges for rural development, expanding electricity distribution, upgrading the Yangon-Mandalay Railway and improving Yangon’s water supply. The annual interest rate will be 0.01 percent, and a 10-year grace period will be followed by a 30-year repayment period, deputy finance minister U Maung Maung Win told MPs on November 30. The loan was among the $7.7 billion aid package announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month.
