[20010817]RS20994_日本银行业“危机”.pdf

Congressional Research Service ? The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS20994August 17, 2001Japans Banking “Crisis”(name redacted)Specialist in Industry and TradeForeign Affairs, Defense, and Trade DivisionSummaryThe Japanese economy is burdened by an overhang of nonperforming bank loans thatare officially recognized to total $367.5 billion but could exceed a trillion dollars if all problemloans are taken into account and economic conditions worsen significantly. These bad loanshave weakened Japans already sluggish economy, undermined the strength of the yen, andare exacerbating the slowdown in Asias economies. In recent years, Japan has averted areplay of the crisis conditions that accompanied earlier failures of financial institutions, but theproblem is immense, and restoring health to the balance sheets of Japanese banks remains atop economic policy concern both in Tokyo and in international financial circles. After nearlya decade of repeated attempts to resolve the problem, the current Koizumi government hasset a new deadline for banks to write off the worst of the loans within three years even if thiscauses as many as 200,000 los