Japanese financial institutions have finally overcome the nonperforming-loan (NPL) problem they had been wrestling with since the bursting of the asset price bubble in the 1990s. In addition, the capital base of Japanese financial institutions has strengthened and Japan's financial system has regained its stability.
At present, both the industrial sector in general and SSI sector in particular are exposed to international competitive environment. However, the most significant aspect is that India has evolved a sound institutional set up for financing of the SSI sector.