Press Conference by the Minister for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

January 20 , 2004

Q.

In yesterday's press conference regarding the Monthly Economic Report, you stated that the restart of the ''pay-off'' scheme is extremely important. Will it definitely be implemented in April next year, or is there any possibility of further postponement?

A.

It is important to restart the ''pay-off'' scheme as planned, and for this purpose, it is crucial to implement the Program for Financial Revival steadily as scheduled.

In regard to relationship banking, consistent progress is being made.

For example, there are 66 cases in which regional banks and small and medium-sized financial institutions are providing Debtor-in-Possession (DIP) finance. The trend, which is arising not only within mega-banks but also within regional small- and medium-sized financial institutions, shows that the situation is changing extremely rapidly, considering that DIP finance could not be provided by the private sector until very recently, and that it used to be provided only by the Development Bank of Japan. It is important to keep this change firmly. Consequently, it will further strengthen and stabilize the financial system, and help create an environment for restarting the ''pay-off'' scheme.