TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Minister of Financial Affairs Hakuo Yanagisawa said risky loans held by Japanese banks remain flat or are rising only slightly.
"Japanese financial institutions are making efforts to remove bad loans from their balance sheets but risky loans held by banks remain flat or are slightly rising at present," Yanagisawa told an upper house budget committee.
"Japanese banks have completed covering their bad debt with loan-loss reserves," he said. "But at present, we are encouraging them to promote write-offs of bad loans that remain on their balance sheets."