TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka welcomed as "a good move" the increases in bad-debt disposals announced during the Japanese banks' interim earnings season. Takenaka added that he hopes the banks will continue their efforts. "The launch of special inspections by the (Financial Services Agency) under the structural reforms seems to have changed the structure of Japanese banks," he told a regular press briefing. "Further bad-debt disposals would be positive, otherwise our reforms will not proceed further," he said. However, Takenaka said the government should not over-react to recent positive but short-term signals such as the recovery of the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index above the 11,000-point level. "The recovery was led by several factors such as further progress in structural reforms, developments in Afghanistan and some positive data in the US," he said. "We should not overreact to this short-term movement. Instead, we should proceed with structural reforms, step-by-step," he added. Takenaka said he agrees with the National Bureau of Economic Research, which said overnight that the US economy has been in recession since March. "It's broadly in line with my expectations," he said.