While it has managed to keep its purse strings relatively loose for foreign aid despite its tight financial situation, Japan has cut back on "untied" loans -- loans with no strings attached -- to developing countries in recent years.
According to data compiled recently by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, untied loans accounted for 83.6 percent of the 1.05 trillion yen worth of yen loans extended during the fiscal year that ended on March 31. The percentage was the lowest in 10 years.
The JBIC is a government-affiliated aid bank created in October through the merger of the Export-Import Bank of Japan and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund.