Japan to extend Yen loans for rebuilding of Egyptian museum

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Tokyo, May 1 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government said Monday it will extend up to 34,838 million yen in yen loans to Egypt to help the Middle East nation rebuild the Egyptian Museum, where King Tutankhamen's golden mask is exhibited.

The two countries exchanged notes on the yen loans in Cairo on Sunday evening local time. The 30-year loans with an annual interest rate of 1.5 pct cover about half of the total rebuilding cost of the aging museum in Cairo, which has about 100,000 items on display.

Egypt is planning to rebuild the museum, which opened in 1902, to a new museum called Grand Egyptian Museum at a total cost of 69,861 million yen.END