VP Taban pleads with Japanese gov’t for ‘soft loan’

JUBA – South Sudan’s Vice President for infrastructure cluster Taban Deng Gai is pleading with the Japanese government to help South Sudan government carry necessary developmental projects by providing soft loans.

According to Investopedia, A soft loan is a loan with no interest or a below-market rate of interest. Also known as “soft financing” or “concessional funding,” soft loans have lenient terms, such as extended grace periods in which only interest or service charges are due, and interest holidays.

They typically offer longer amortization schedules (in some cases up to 50 years) than conventional bank loans.

Soft loans are often made by multinational development banks (such as the Asian Development Fund), affiliates of the World Bank, or federal governments (or government agencies) to developing countries that would be unable to borrow at the market rate.

In statements on the state-own South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), Taban’s Press Secretary Kawaja Kau said the vice president thanks the Japanese government for constructing the bridge and also asked for soft loan.

“His excellency [Taban] appreciated the government of Juba for building a very wonderful bridge,” Kau said Tuesday, adding that the VP “also appealed to the Japanese government that they should also provide a loan, a soft loan because the government of Japan has done a lot for the people and government of South Sudan.”

“There is a need also for the government of South Sudan to request for a soft loan and if that soft loan is granted it will be also good,” he stressed.