On縲?October 31, DPJ Policy Research Committee Chair Masayuki Naoshima and DPJ Monetary Measures Action Team Head Leader Kohei Otsuka, made the following statement:

Today, at the House of Representatives Finance Committee, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa and an unsworn witness (Chair of the Financial Service Agency's Inspection Bureau) answered questions on guidelines for providing loans to small and medium-sized businesses, changes to the financial inspection manual for such loans and calls for flexible inspections procedures.

They stated that, based on the unique needs of small and medium-sized businesses, the period covered by the plan to (1) improve business performance of those businesses would be extended from 3 years to 5 years and, (2) if improvements are judged to be proceeding generally as planned, extended further to 10 years.

This response is in line with the content of the financial crisis countermeasure proposals earlier announced by the DPJ.

We believe that we can now expect private-sector financial institutions to act flexibly with regard to changing loan conditions for financing provided to small and medium-sized businesses.

We once again encourage the government to swiftly implement these measures and focus on achieving the smooth availability of financing for small and medium-sized businesses.