the boj says $1.3 billion will be loaned to environment and energy companies. regional businesses will get $1.1 billion. $657 million will be spent on construction and another $650 million for medical and nursing care services. the central bank plans to provide $35.5 billion in bank loans by june 2012 to spur economic growth. >>> japan's suzuki motor is feeling the pinch from the surging yen. the car maker has dropped plans to build a domestic industrial park with parts suppliers. suzuki began assembling vehicles for europe and other markets at its plant in shizuoka prefecture, central japan, in 2008. since the company wanted to bring its part suppliers closer to its production center, it planned to build a complete industrial park by 2014. but sluggish european sales and a strong yen that dampened export growth put a stop to suzuki's plans. chairman usama suzuki expressed great concern about the exchange rate, saying the yen has soared to unexpected levels. >>> in the past four months the value of the japanese currency has soared over 9% to reach a 50-year hig

after a two-y policy meeting that ended on tuesday the boj said the economy is still recovering at a moderate pace and decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged at around 0.1%. the yen's recent uptrend, the central bank said export-related firms may take a hit if the currency continues to stay at the current high level and that could, in turn, delay the country's economic recovery. >>> the yen's surge, falling stock prices and u.s. bleak economic outlook caused it to ease concerns about japan's committee. the representatives of 50 cities from around the world are in south korea to talk about how they can better use information technology, they're launching a council to promote i.t.-based administrative services. the city of seoul called tuesday's meeting. the south korean capital has computerized most of its services including the issuance of resident certificates. >> i expect the power of i.t. to create a wave of mutual collaboration that will reach out to every city around the world. >> the mayor also expressed hope the council would provide business opportunities for south k

first of all, the bank does not hold a current account at the boj that is used for interbank transactions. the bank is not part of the network used for fund transactions using automatic teller machines, and only a few percent of its account holders have savings that exceed the payback cap and that means that most of the account holders are likely to be repaid in full. masaaki kanno, at jp morgan securities japan, points out that the bank's relatively small scale of business is one reason why the impact of its failure will probably be limited. >> of the failure of the bank is likely to have only a limited impact only because the bank's role is rather limited in terms of its role in the settlement system and the size of the bank's activities. >> for today the market's reaction to the news seems to be subdued. the bank has had problems for a long time now, and analysts say those issues had been factored into the markets. back to you. >>> china's trade surplus topped $20 billion in august for the third month in a row. economists say the trend may increase international calls for a revaluation

the boj says that promoting an easy monetary policy like this will help weaken the yen and bolster the economy. >>> meanwhile, former u.s. federal reserve chairman alan greenspan says japan's move to weaken the yen won't last. in a speech in new york on wednesday greenspan said unilateral intervention in foreign currency markets is a temporary measure. >> there is a global market that arbitrages out there, so that i think that intervention is -- never works. >> he said the yen is sold as a safe haven currency because there's strong demand for japanese government bonds among domestic investors, so in effect most of the government debt is absorbed in domestic markets. greenspan warned that japan's huge government deficits could lead to higher interest rates in the future and pose a serious fiscal problem. >>> let's check currencies. the dollar's hovering around a narrow range against the yen on thursday morning. investors are waiting to see if japan's monetary authorities will continue to intervene in foreign exchange markets. currently, the dollar is at 85.43-48 yen. the euro is current