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Japan seeks guarantee on its debtsJapan is proposing a scheme to enable international lending agencies to guarantee debts held by government...

Japan seeks guarantee on its debts

Japan is proposing a scheme to enable international lending agencies to guarantee debts held by governments and central banks of countries plagued by currency turmoil, a press report said Saturday. The programme is expected to be taken up at a meeting of Finance ministers and Central bankers from the Group of Seven G7 industrial countries in London on February 21, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. It is designed to help countries like South Korea which have difficulty in obtaining foreign currency due to a rapid loss in their credit standings, the leading economic daily said.

The idea of involving international lending institutions, such as the World Bankand the Asian Development Bank, has been circulated among the United States and major European nations, the report said. Under the programme, Japanese, US and European creditor banks may urge the South Korean government to issue medium-and long-term bonds worth about 20 billion to shoulder the nation8217;s private bank debts.

Indonesian jet project not stalled

The national program to build Indonesia8217;s first passenger jet will not face any postponement despite drastic falls in the value of the rupiah, reports said. The Chief project officer, Ilham Akbar Habibie, told the state Antara news agency there was no reason to delay the country8217;s N-2130 national jet program, which is estimated to have a development cost of two billion dollars. Habibie denied that the project to build the jet had been made an issue by the International Monetary Fund IMF during negotiations to provide stand-by loans to Indonesia to help it cope with the current economic crisis. Jakarta has entered an agreement to secure an IMF-led international Financial bailout package worth more than 40 billion dollars. The announcement not to delay the project comes after the embattled rupiah plunged to a record low of 11,000 to the US dollar on Friday in Asian trading, before re covering to 7,675.

General Motors focuses on exports

General Motors Corp. plans to set up a car parts warehouse in Thailand and focus on exports in an effort to beat the slump in domestic demand for vehicles, a report said. Speaking after a meeting with Industry Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, General Motors Thailand company President Ronald Frizzell said the company would focus on supplying spare parts to other General Motors GM dealers in the region, the Nation reported.

Frizzell also said the US-based company would postpone by three to six months the opening of its new car assembly plant in Thailand, which is due to start operations early next year. He also confirmed GM had decided to reduce its investment in the new plant to 500 million from 750 million, the newspaper said. The announcement followed an earlier report saying the opening of the plant might be postponed for up to a year because of Thai and East Asian economic difficulties and dampened demand for new vehicles. A statement from GM8217;s headquarters in the United States earlier in the week said the plant8217;s opening would be delayed for only quot;several weeksquot;.