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To: long-gone who wrote (75931)	9/6/2001 11:13:56 PM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Respond to of 116753

running on empty assets. time is just about up for those folks.

To: long-gone who wrote (75931)	9/6/2001 11:54:54 PM
From: ubetcha	Respond to of 116753

The "official" rate is hovering around 1/2%. The banks are in serious trouble with BAD loans that if they were to write them off would seriously affect their ability to be bankers. If you figure in some of the government subsidies, than yes, they actually pay some borrowers to come and get some money. The problem is that there are few takers. They do not want to grow. As we say in our business, we sell everything at below cost, but we will make it up in volume. Keeps the bankers happy for some period of time, but eventually the fat lady will sing. Thanks, Terry

To: long-gone who wrote (75931)	9/7/2001 11:16:34 PM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116753

Japan facing recession, say economists Economy has contracted and worse is expected in next quarterly report TOKYO - Japan's gloom deepened yesterday as the government reported the economy had contracted at a rate of 3.2 per cent this year compared to last, the troubled country's worst performance since late 1999. The announcement that the economy shrank by 0.8 per cent for the April-June quarter, combined with recent headlines of a record 5-per-cent unemployment level, a 17-year stock market low and weakness throughout the economy, heaps more pressure on already beleaguered economic planners. It also makes the political tenure of reform-minded Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi more vulnerable. The deteriorating economy emboldens political opponents who fear Mr Koizumi's calls to end wasteful public works projects. 'Basically the numbers show there's nothing supporting the economy,' said Mr Masaki Kanno, economist with J.P. Morgan Securities Asia Ltd. 'If anti-reform people find Koizumi's public appeal declining, Koizumi's political life will be at risk.' One minor saving grace for the administration is that most analysts expected the gross domestic product number, the sum total of goods and services produced by the nation, to be even worse, with some predicting a contraction as great as 1.2 per cent. 'This could give Koizumi a little bit more room,' said Mr Ron Bevacqua, a Commerz Securities Asia economist. Economists say the economy will probably shrink 0.2 per cent this quarter, making for two straight declines that would meet the common definition of recession. 'Koizumi asked us to prepare for an extra budget,' Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa told reporters after the GDP report was released. 'We'll finalise the outline of the extra budget at end-October and submit it to the parliament in mid-November.' Japanese Economics Minister Heizo Takenaka said the government would need to revise its growth forecast for the current fiscal year following the contraction. 'We would need significant growth from here to achieve annual growth, or the official government outlook.' The government's official forecast for the year's GDP growth is 1.7 per cent. The figure, announced late last year, has not been revised despite deteriorating conditions. Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday it was reviewing Japan's credit rating for a possible downgrade, which would further raise the country's borrowing costs. 'Sentiment is against blindly pump-priming the economy,' said Nikko Salomon Smith Barney Ltd senior economist Tomoko Fujii. 'The focus will be to convince investors that the spending is in line with reforms.' The government has already budgeted the sale of 28.3 trillion yen (S$4 billion) of bonds this year, meaning it can still sell another 1.7 trillion yen worth and keep within the 30 trillion yen cap. With money left over from last year's budget and public works reserves, the government could spend as much as 2.2 trillion yen. --Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News,Reuters straitstimes.asia1.com.sg