Japan is to extend Pakistan new yen loans worth 16.4 billion yen, the two countries said on Saturday in a joint statement issued during a visit to Pakistan by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Koizumi, who arrived in Islamabad from India, held talks with both President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on a 24-hour visit that Japan said would put relations back on track, Reuters said . "In line with our plans to boost our economic aid for Pakistan, we want to resume yen loans," a Japanese government official quoted Koizumi as telling Musharraf. The two countries later said in a statement the new loans would be worth 16.4 billion yen ($154.9 million), with most being used to rehabilitate a canal system. Musharraf told Koizumi Pakistan wanted economic aid to fight unemployment and poverty, which he said were main causes of terrorism, the Japanese official said. In 1997, the year before the sanctions, Japan gave Pakistan 32.0 billion yen ($298 million) in yen loans. Last year it gave 6.3 billion yen in grant aid and 1.8 billion yen in technological cooperation. --More 2025 Local Time 1725 GMT
