Ad Hoc Press Conference by Taro Aso, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of State for Financial Services

(Excerpt)

(Monday, September 28, 2015, 5:45 pm to 5:54 pm, Tohoku Local Finance Bureau)

[Opening remarks]

I exchanged opinions with representatives of financial institutions from the three disaster-affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Because I wanted to hear about reconstruction in the affected areas, they told me about examples of the action being taken by financial institutions. Regional financial institutions will continue their businesses in their regions unlike major banks, where personnel are transferred frequently and nationwide, so I asked them to make sure that they go out into their communities and support to their customers in an appropriate fashion.

At any rate, reconstruction is only halfway through, and I intend to continue assisting with the transition from recovery to reconstruction, and then to development.

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

Minister, having seen the disaster-affected areas and spoken with representatives of financial institutions, please tell me what left the biggest impression on you today.

A.

When I came here last time they couldn’t talk in specific terms. I asked them to be frank and give concrete examples, but they were unable to answer completely.

But today, each bank came with one or two specific examples, and given that four years has passed since the disaster, progress may be made with some specific initiatives. For that reason, I felt that they are beginning to respond. Because conditions are difficult in various ways, Mr. Ikeda from the Corporation for Revitalizing Earthquake Affected Business came here, and the Corporation has started doing various things that the banks would have been unable to do on their own. So I feel that things have progressed a little bit since last time.

Q.

The heads of all the financial institutions were here today. Did you get as far as talking about consolidation?

A.

No, we didn’t.