Press Conference by ASO Taro, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of State for Financial Services
(Excerpt)
(Friday, May 15, 2020, 10:15 am to 10:22 am)
[Questions and answers:]
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Q.
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The state of emergency was lifted for 39 prefectures, but the eight prefectures that account for half of Japan’s GDP still remain under that state. The severity of impact on the economy and the scale of measures required would depend on whether the state of emergency will be lifted for the remaining eight by the end of this month. Please share your thinking with us.
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A.
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While everybody is now talking about financing, if the present situation continues for a long time, debits will exceed credits on the balance sheet and under such circumstances banks will be unable to give new loans, and even large companies could go bankrupt, and this will in turn cause lots of people to lose their jobs. In order to prevent this from happening, capital must be utilized, for which financial functions need to be strengthened in order for banks to have enough funds to give loans to companies.