Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa on Tuesday rejected calls from ruling bloc lawmakers to delay the government's plan to cap refund guarantees on all types of bank deposits next April.
The rejection, made at a news conference, came amid growing calls from within the Liberal Democratic Party and its two coalition partners for an extension of the government's full guarantee on current and ordinary deposits. Some ruling bloc members are reportedly preparing a bill to achieve the extension.
"I hope the (ruling) parties will not submit such a bill," Shiokawa said after he stressed that the end of full deposit guarantees is part of the economic reforms pledged by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.