Japan announced an additional $500 million in aid to the Philippines at the beginning of a two-day international meeting Wednesday in Tokyo to draw up measures to help the country cope with its economic difficulties.
At the meeting's outset, State Secretary for Finance Sadakazu Tanigaki said, "Japan would like to extend financial support amounting to the yen equivalent of $500 million in total, using the guarantee facility of the Export- Import Bank of Japan."
Fifteen countries and nine international financial lending institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are attending the Donors' Consultative Group Meeting. Japan's additional aid is being given under the so-called Miyazawa Plan, a $30 billion fund proposed in October by Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa to help Asian countries hit by the regional economic crisis.