On縲?October 27, DPJ Monetary Measures Action Team Head Kohei Otsuka, made the following statement:

Share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit a post-bubble low in the continuous morning session today. The financial crisis is becoming increasingly grim. Against this backdrop, there are pressing issues such as corporate fund-raising actions and measures taken by financial institutions (banks, securities and insurance companies) to counteract the credit uncertainty attributable to the share price decline.

The DPJ Monetary Measures Action Team urges the Japanese government and the ruling party to take sufficient and immediate action based on proposals that have already been submitted to the authorities concerned.

In particular, there is an urgent need to improve the responses of financial institutions to changes in loan and repayment terms that are related to small and medium-sized businesses' cash-flow situations. Specifically, financial institutions must be prevented from downgrading the lending categories of the companies concerned, forcibly removing their access to funding, and being reluctant to grant them loans while they are paying interest, even if the loan terms (such as the length of the loan) are changed.

Facilitating loans to small and medium-sized businesses is a vital goal of the bill for strengthening financial performance which the government has submitted to the Diet. The DPJ Monetary Measures Action Team has also advocated this point from early on. Aside from the items stipulated in this bill, the government needs to take the necessary actions, including reviews of the Financial Inspection Manual, as soon as practicable. The DPJ Monetary Measures Action Team strongly urges the government to take these actions.

Downloads:
DPJ's Proposal for Financial Crisis Countermeasures (Summary)
http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/files/081010gaiyo.pdf

DPJ's Proposal for Financial Crisis Countermeasures (Full Text)
http://www.dpj.or.jp/news/files/081010kinyuhonbun.pdf