BY SAYURI DAIMONStaff writer

A nearly bankrupt semi-governmental firm sitting on a large plot of land nearly equal in size to the area inside Tokyo's Yamanote Line has come up with a plan to put itself back on its feet.

Mutsu Ogawara Development Inc., a firm jointly established by the government and the private sector to develop a 5,280-hectare area in Aomori Prefecture, has decided to cut its workforce and ask banks to postpone interest payments worth 8 billion yen annually until next year, sources close to the company said.