Kamei To Seek Banking Assn Chief's Support For Borrower Relief

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Minister of Financial Affairs Shizuka Kamei said Friday that he will meet with the head of the Japanese Bankers Association next week to discuss the proposed introduction of a moratorium on debt repayments for small businesses.

"We should be able to obtain (the banking industry's) understanding," he said.

Kamei's planned meeting with association Chairman Katsunori Nagayasu, who is also president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, would be his first sit-down with a top financial industry official.

The request for a meeting came from Nagayasu, according to Kamei, who seeks to discuss the new Democratic Party of Japan-led government's plans for financial policy administration. Kamei is slated to explain the proposed debt relief and ask for the banking industry's cooperation.

At a news conference Thursday, Nagayasu urged the government to proceed cautiously with the proposal. "There's no precedence for the activation of an across-the-board, long-term moratorium under a free economy," he said.

(The Nikkei Sept. 26 morning edition)