Seiji Maehara, Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, stated on December 8th that the Japanese government has yet to decide on the scale of loan guarantees for Japan Airlines Corporation, which is in dire straits, as the government is still discussing how to finance this action.
"Tickets from Beijing to Guangzhou"
Mr. Maehara said, "The government has not yet decided how to finance the guarantee, let alone determine the scale of financing."
In November, the Japanese government announced it would provide loan guarantees for Japan Airlines so that the airline could obtain the necessary funds to maintain daily operations while implementing its restructuring plan.
The Nikkei reported over the weekend that the government is expected to guarantee approximately 700 billion yen in loans and other funds provided by financial institutions to help Japan Airlines rebuild its operations.
The Nikkei report mentioned that the government will allocate the necessary funds in its second supplementary budget for fiscal year 2009.
In response to this news report, Mr. Maehara said, "I do not know why this (figure) was announced."
"Special tickets from Changchun"