The government may delay the April 1 imposition of a 10 million yen cap on refund guarantees for ordinary bank and other liquid deposits until financial institutions are fully prepared to introduce new, settlement-specific bank accounts, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda indicated Thursday.
"We will implement the refund cap after keeping track of financial institutions' views on the preparation of their computer systems," Fukuda told a regular news conference.
The idea of postponing the cap for ordinary accounts arose from the recommendations of a government panel. The panel suggested that the government offer to permanently protect settlement-specific accounts, where many depositors may shift their money to reduce the risk the cap will pose to ordinary accounts.