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To: tekgk who wrote (7390)	11/7/1997 9:06:00 PM
From: Mark Nelson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18056

Re:<...debt in Japan> Also from the Gold Monitor Thread Thursday, Nov 6 1997 9:14PM EST Reply #2906 of 2964 Bad loans total 935.6 bil. yen at 9 govt financial bodies ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yomiuri Shimbun The amount of bad loans at nine government-affiliated financial organizations, including the Japan Development Bank, totaled 935.6 billion yen as of March 31, the government's audit board said Thursday. The figure is up about 66 billion yen, or approximately 8 percent, from March 31, 1996, according to the Board of Audit. The loans were extended by the nine financial institutions and have gone unpaid for at least six months. The other eight institutions are the People's Finance Corporation; the Housing Loan Corporation; the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corporation; the Small Business Finance Corporation; the Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Corporation; the Environmental Sanitation Business Financing Corporation; the Okinawa Development Finance Corporation and the Export-Import Bank of Japan. The audit board will include the uncollectible loans in its fiscal 1996 inspection report, to be presented to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto next month. As part of its plan to begin streamlining public corporations in 1999, the government decided in September to abolish or merge 12 government-affiliated financial institutions, including the Japan Development Bank, the Hokkaido-Tohoku Development Finance Corporation and the People's Finance Corporation. The nearly 1 trillion yen in bad loans is believed to be a result of the prolonged economic slump. Some economists predict that the outstanding funds will remain a major problem even after the institutions are reduced. Among the nine corporations, the People's Finance Corporation had the largest amount of bad loans for the second consecutive year, with 216.1 billion yen in outstanding loans. ************** Mark

To: tekgk who wrote (7390)	11/7/1997 9:15:00 PM
From: Joan Osland Graffius	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18056

tekgk, >>How about 256% of GDP like we have here. I thought out GDP was 9 trillion reported and unreported around 2 or 3 trillion. Am I loosing it?:-) Joan

To: tekgk who wrote (7390)	11/7/1997 10:23:00 PM
From: Bonnie Bear	Respond to of 18056

Interesting article, thanks. I note he's inclined to think that interest rates must increase. I have some difficulty imagining how our interest rates can stay this low much longer. (BWDIK?) I can't imagine a compelling reason to buy gold, other than an undervalued industrial metal. I think we'll go back to an earlier era when the investments of choice are utilities: clean water, natural gas, electricity, phone (internet access), and some REITS. Yields for stocks will adjust to give good return in the absence of growth. At least that's the way it worked once long ago before the great bull market :( I remember the tales of co-workers who survived the investment nightmares of the 60s and 70s, it was good for traders but was bad for buy-and-hold investors and bondholders.