Against the background of new business strategies including mergers and acquisitions underway in the financial sector toward the planned full removal of blanket deposit insurance in April 2005, today I will discuss the roles that efficient financial services should play in the future in Japan’s economy. I. Need for efficient financial services  A.
Current state of the Japanese economy and financial system  The Japanese economy has been recovering since the latter half of last year, driven by a virtuous cycle in which an increase in exports leads to a pickup in production and corporate profits, which in turn raises capital spending. Recently, the household sector has also been recovering in line with the improvement in employment.