Japan’s financial regulator is urging regional banks to help local businesses secure equity funding necessary for further growth, as part of the country’s broader drive to revitalize rural economies.
"Some banks are already doing it, but I hope others will try,” Hiroshi Okada, a senior official at the Financial Services Agency (FSA), said in an interview. In addition to providing loans, local lenders need to advise their corporate clients on the best mix of debt and equity to fund their expansion, he said.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is trying to revive Japan’s local economies, which are struggling to grow as the population ages and shrinks. Okada, a career civil servant, is heading the FSA’s efforts to draw up a package of policy measures to expand regional banks’ roles in supporting economies hit by the adverse demographic shifts.
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