The debt incurred by the former Japanese National Railways totaled 27.7 trillion yen at the start of fiscal 1998, down 333.6 billion yen from one year ago, Transport Ministry officials said Wednesday.
During fiscal 1997, JNR Settlement Corp. made 1.41 trillion yen by selling off JNR assets worth 808 billion yen and the stocks of Central Japan Railway Co. for 485.9 billion yen.
The semigovernmental company also gained 118.4 billion yen as repayment related to bullet train facilities from the Corporation for Advanced Transport and Technology. The organization's debt decreased because revenue exceeded expenses, such as repayment of a portion of the debt in fiscal 1997, the officials explained.
JNR Settlements Corp. inherited the debt and assets from JNR in 1987 when the national railways were privatized into JR group companies and is to dispose of the assets to partially repay the debt.