Japan to boost loans to Latin America for infrastructure development

The Japanese government has agreed with the Inter-American Development Bank to boost co-financing in the next four years to build infrastructure in Latin America, Japan's Finance Ministry said Sunday. 
Japan has raised its co-financing from $1 billion in fiscal 2012 through 2016 to $3 billion for the period through fiscal 2020 to help accelerate infrastructure development in Latin America in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency, according to Japan's News Agency (Kyodo). 
The loans had been designed to assist development in Central America, but the area covered has now been expanded to South America, taking into consideration a rising income level that suits quality infrastructure development in the region, a ministry official said.