5  See Aoki, K., Hogen, Y., and Takatomi, K., "Price Markups and Wage Setting Behavior of Japanese Firms," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series, no. 23-E-5 (April 2023).
If there is too strict restriction on lending rate, banks may have little incentive to conduct feasibility assessment for SME projects. As a result SMEs will have limited access to bank loans and thus face more severe situation.