The president of the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan told the Diet on Monday that he "believes" his bank is solvent, only to recant the statement later in the day.
In late unsworn testimony, Onogi said he "got carried away" in earlier testimony in regards to the LTCB's liabilities and to an ongoing inspection being conducted by the Financial Supervisory Agency, adding that he has not heard about the inspection's findings. "I got carried away in making the remark," he told the Lower House committee.
He was referring to a comment in which he said: "Based on our own assessment, inspection by the Bank of Japan, and the findings so far in the ongoing inspection by the Financial Supervisory Agency, I believe I can say that our bank is not insolvent. As of the end of September, we estimate that our capital account will stand at 550 billion yen."