Government to strengthen financing measures for small and medium-sized enterprises Impact of new virus February 27 5:54
The government has decided to prioritize measures to increase the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises, as corporate activities are spreading due to the suspension of events due to the spread of the new coronavirus.
The government has requested on September 26 that large-scale events such as the next two weeks should be canceled, postponed, or reduced in size to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
With the consequences of the cancellation of the event already widespread, the government plans to strengthen its financing measures for vulnerable SMEs.
Specifically, we will expand the target industries under a system called "Safety Net Guarantee" that guarantees borrowings of SMEs by credit guarantee associations in each region.
Currently, there are approximately 150 industries such as "cement manufacturing" and "liquor retail", but we are considering adding tourism-related industries such as lodging and sightseeing buses.
If sales in these industries fall by more than 5% over the same period of the previous year, SMEs are guaranteed 80% of their borrowings, making it easier for SMEs to get loans from financial institutions.
The government has also strengthened its support by relaxing the requirements for “safety net lending” provided by the Japan Finance Corporation and the Japan Finance Corporation of Japan.