Japanese May Take Lead in Aid

TOKYO — Japan may soon surpass the United States to become the world’s largest donor of government aid to developing countries, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

Japan has budgeted 1,348 billion yen for aid to the Third World in the year beginning April 1, the Economic Cooperation Bureau official said. At an exchange rate of 135 yen to the dollar--which the Japanese government uses for budget calculations--that totals $10 billion. The U.S. aid budget in the current fiscal year, ending at the end of September, is $8.8 billion, according to the official.