The Finance Ministry issued a report Tuesday criticizing how 176.5 billion yen in grant aid for developing countries is being used in 53 projects in the fiscal 2005 budget.
The ministry asked the Foreign Ministry to improve its use of the aid. As examples, the ministry noted how scientific equipment procured by Papua New Guinea with the aid has never been used there, and how wireless instruments have been left unused in Ghana after breaking.
The ministry also argued that the costs for a project to develop ground water in Laos were apparently padded, while the Japanese Embassy and Japan International Cooperation Agency office in that country failed to understand the construction costs and estimates of the project.
The Finance Ministry is expected to use the report to call for greater cuts in official development assistance when it starts work around late July to draw up the fiscal 2006 budget.
Along with the grant aid, the 53 projects include a Defense Agency project to procure vehicles and wireless and medical equipment worth 12.14 million yen, and a health ministry project to offer vocational training to job seekers, worth 20.39 million yen.