Lessons from Japan's Banking Crisis, 1991–2005
Fujii, Mariko; Kawai, Masahiro | June 2010
Abstract
The Japanese government’s response to the financial crisis in the 1990s was late, unprepared and insufficient; it failed to recognize the severity of the crisis, which developed slowly; faced no major domestic or external constraints; and lacked an adequate legal framework for bank resolution. Policy measures adopted after the 1997–1998 systemic crisis, supported by a newly established comprehensive framework for bank resolution, were more decisive. Banking sector problems were eventually resolved by a series of policies implemented from that period, together with an export-led economic recovery. Japan’s experience suggests that it is vital for a government not only to recapitalize the banking system but also to provide banks with adequate incentives to dispose of troubled assets from their balance sheets, even if that required the government to mobilize regulatory measures to do so, as was done in Japan in 2002. Economic stagnation can cause new nonperforming loans to emerge rapidly, and deplete bank capital. If the authorities do not address the banking sector problem promptly, then the crisis will prolong and economic recovery will be substantially delayed.
Citation
Fujii, Mariko; Kawai, Masahiro. 2010. Lessons from Japan's Banking Crisis, 1991–2005. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/3810. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.Keywords
Economic Development
Economic Infrastructure
Economic Policies
Regional Economic Development
Microfinance Programs
Public Finance
Local Financing
Financial Stability
Financial Sector Regulation
Enterprises
Financial aid
Economies in transition
Local Finance
Local Government
Insurance Companies
Banks
Social Equity
Social responsibility of business
Accounting
Personal budgets
Cost and standard of living
Bank accounts
Credit control
Regulatory reform
Banks and banking
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Citable URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11540/3810Metadata
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