Japan Press Weekly

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2011 July 27 - August 2 [GREAT EAST JAPAN DISASTER]

JCP urgent proposal to solve disaster victims’ ‘double loan’ problem

The Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers’ group on July 26 proposed urgent measures to solve the so-called “double loan” problem many disaster victims are facing.

In the proposal, the JCP points out that small business owners, whose shops or factories were fully or partially destroyed by the March 11 tsunami and quake, have to take out new loans on top of their existing loans in order to resume their businesses.

In order to provide support widely and promptly to small- and medium-sized business operators wishing to resume their businesses, the JCP proposal stresses the need for the government to purchase loans from disaster-hit business owners. The proposal calls on the government to allot a sufficient budget for the purchase of loans through government funds and contributions from banking organs and the Deposit Insurance Corporation in order to minimize tax payers’ financial burdens.

Explaining the JCP proposal at a news conference in the Diet building, JCP Diet Policy Commission Chair and House of Representatives member Kokuta Keiji said, “As long as the ‘double loan’ problem exists, it will be difficult for disaster-hit regions to recover.”

As for the government’s debt relief policy which assumes that the budget needed to purchase loans is about 200 billion yen, JCP member of the House of Councilors Daimon Mikishi in the news conference criticized the amount as being insufficient.

He also criticized the government for leaving the response to meet the needs of disaster-hit firms to financial institutions, warning such a policy will likely be used to provide support only to business owners who are deemed by them to be capable of reestablishing their businesses.