Masazumi Gotoda, former parliamentary secretary in charge of financial services, said Friday he will work to revamp a consumer lending bill to get the ceiling on interest charges lowered and the higher rate on small loans scrapped.
"I will make an alliance with the opposition bloc to seek revisions of the draft to protect consumers," the Lower House lawmaker told a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
Gotoda, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, quit as parliamentary secretary in charge of financial services and economic and fiscal policy on Sept. 6 in protest of a bill drafted by the government to lower consumer loan rate caps, calling the higher ceiling on small loans a "loophole."
Since his resignation, a number of lawmakers both in the ruling bloc and opposition parties have told him to work to scrap the provision allowing the higher loan rate, Gotoda said.
"I want to work with opposition lawmakers, not only in the Democratic Party of Japan but also in the Social Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party, if they share my views," he said.
The Financial Services Agency earlier proposed a higher cap of 28 percent be maintained for five years on small, short-term loans even after a lower 20 percent cap is put in place for other loans.