The government is afraid to apply its "bridge bank" scheme to the nation's 19 major banks because any moves to aid one of them would trigger speculation more collapses are on the way and destabilize international markets, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa indicated Monday.

Speaking to the Lower House Budget Committee's first meeting of the extraordinary Diet session, Miyazawa told Naoto Kan, president of the largest opposition force Democratic Party of Japan, that new measures may be needed should major banks fail.

However, Miyazawa insisted that the bridge bank plan can, in principle, be applied to any financial institution.