The Foreign and Finance ministries did not secretly agree to protect their vested interests in official development assistance amid ODA reforms, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday, denying a newspaper report.

"No secret agreement exists," Yoshinori Katori, the ministry's press secretary, told the press, referring to a report published the same day by the daily Mainichi Shimbun.

"It's likely that the Foreign Ministry would have general discussions with relevant government ministries and agencies on how to work in a smooth manner (after the ODA reforms), but as for a secret agreement, there isn't one," he said.

The daily reported that although a government advisory panel on Feb. 17 called for integrating ODA operations into the Japan International Cooperation Agency, an aid body under the Foreign Ministry, the two ministries compiled a document behind the scenes that maintains the Finance Ministry's continued involvement.

The document says JICA, into which the three arms of ODA -- yen-denominated loans, technical assistance and grants-in-aid -- will be integrated, will be kept under the jurisdiction of the foreign minister, but the finance minister will take charge of financing the yen loans, according to the Mainichi.

The Finance Ministry had jurisdiction over the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, but under the reforms, JBIC will be split up and integrated it into JICA.

But the document says there would be no changes in the authority over JBIC, it said.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe met Feb. 17 with Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai, and agreed to maintain their ministries' authority over ODA even after the integration, the daily said.

After Foreign and Finance ministry officials worked out the document, it was endorsed Monday by Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi and Vice Finance Minister Koichi Hosokawa, it said.