Bloomberg
June 10, 2003

Japan will report it has about [US]$7 billion of loans outstanding to Iraq when it meets as part of a group of 19 creditor nations known as the Paris Club at its two- day meeting starting June 10, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported.

The total is more than the 500 billion yen ([US]$4.23 billion) in loans the government originally estimated because it includes losses from missed trade insurance payments by Iraq to private Japanese companies, the report said, without citing anyone.

The Paris Club members plan to conclude an assessment of the estimated $26 billion owed them by Iraq at the meeting to be held in Paris, the newspaper said. It has also pledged to address debt relief for Iraq as part of a reconstruction program after the U.S.- led invasion and the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime.