Japan considers foreign bank financing for $33 billion US power projects

TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) - Japan is considering financing from foreign banks for natural gas-fired power generation projects in the United States that form part of its $550 billion U.S. investment pledge.

"If financing from foreign banks materialises, it should further facilitate the procurement of foreign-currency funding needed to implement the investment initiative," the Ministry of Finance said in a post on the X platform late on Sunday.

Reuters reported last week that JPMorgan JPM.N and other U.S. banks are close to agreeing to provide financing under the investment framework, which Japan and the United States agreed as part of a deal to reduce U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods.

The ministry did not identify the foreign lenders involved, but said the financing would be provided alongside loans from the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Export credit agency NEXI could provide guarantees for loans extended by the banks, it added.

The banks are set to help finance projects to build natural gas-fired power facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas with a combined value of about $33 billion, the ministry said.

Ministry officials declined to comment beyond the X post.