BIS Review 6/2003  1  Securitized business loans amounted to $ billion in the third quarter of 2002, up from a relatively miniscule $ billion in 1989. Derivatives are another important tool that firms use to manage risk exposures.
Consequently, it may take quite a while for economic activity as a whole to stop declining, even though the decrease in industrial production may come to an end against the background of the improvement in exporting conditions and completion of inventory adjustment. Overall, the economic deterioration in Japan is projected to moderate steadily, as production stops declining due mainly to the recovery in exports.