Bills for the government "bridge bank" plan, aimed at resolving the bad-loan problem, are ready to be submitted at the outset of an extraordinary Diet session to convene later this month, Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga said Friday.
He added that he does not expect the bills to face major resistance by opposition parties, because the government plan is more effective than the idea put forward by the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force.
Finance Ministry officials have been burning the midnight oil every day to get the bills drafted since the government decision July 2 to assemble a comprehensive plan for financial resuscitation, Matsunaga told a regular news conference.
The plan to set up bridge banks, which would take over failed banks and extend loans to their sound borrowers, is the pillar of the total scheme.
The completion of the drafting was reported to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Thursday, according to Matsunaga. The extraordinary Diet session is scheduled to open July 30.