Japan's Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Heizo Takenaka said the proportion of bad loans held by large banks in Japan is declining quicker than he expected and is approaching a level of less than 5 percent.
"Japan's financial appearance is changing," Takenaka said on Fuji Television's Hodo 2001 program. Financial reform, including action by the banks, "is in line with what we assumed a year ago, or rather a bit faster."
Takenaka introduced a plan last year to force Mizuho Financial Group Inc and other large banks to halve their bad loans by March 2005. Mizuho, Japan's largest lender, and its three closest rivals said on Dec. 3 their outstanding bad loans were ?13.8 trillion (US$129 billion) as of Sept. 30, down 31 percent from a year ago.
Mizuho, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc and UFJ Holdings Inc all expect to return to profit this year, after two years of combined record losses, as the strengthening economy helps borrowers repay debt.
The four forecast a combined ?1.23 trillion in net profit this year, as they expect the cost of dealing with bad loans to fall two thirds.
Businesses are more optimistic than they have been in six-and-a-half years, according to the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey of business confidence, released Dec. 12.
Mizuho, Japan's largest lender, said its bad-loan ratio stood at 5.8 percent as of Sept. 30, compared with 6.44 percent a year earlier, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, the second-largest, said its ratio was 7 percent compared with 9.4 percent last September.
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc, Japan's largest bank by market value, said last month it cut its bad-loan ratio in half to 3.8 percent at the end of September from 8.1 percent as of the end of March last year, meeting a deadline set by regulators nearly 18 months early.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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