I believe the Bank’s bold measures, including the decision to quickly provide long-term funds to financial institutions in disaster areas to support firms in distress – particularly small and medium-sized firms – were timely and most appropriate.
The damage caused by the recent earthquake has been much larger than that of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, but the Bank has taken full advantage of the lessons learned at the time. The first funds-supplying operation to support financial institutions in disaster areas took place in May, and the second such operation took place on June 21.