NAKASONE ADVISED TO EXPAND PURCHASES ABROAD
Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone was
advised to work out a plan for his government to buy more than
one billion dlrs worth of foreign industrial products as part
of efforts to defuse Japan's trade frictions with the United
States, officials said.
    Former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe made the
recommendation at a meeting with Nakasone soon after returning
from a U.S. Visit designed to pave the way for the prime
minister's visit to Washington starting next Wednesday.
    Abe met President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Congressional
leaders during his visit.
    It was not known how Nakasone responded to the suggestion.
    It also included increasing the nation's untied loans to
developing countries to between 25 billion and 30 billion dlrs
over the next three years and giving foreign firms greater
access to a six billion dlr international airport project in
western Japan, officials said.
    Abe called for tax cuts and government funds to be funneled
into public works projects to stimulate domestic demand. Abe
spoke of the possibility that Nakasone's visit could coincide
with the passage of a protectionist trade bill by the U.S.
House of Representatives.
 Reuter
