メガ公庫再編

(Sep. 21, 2008) The Yomiuri Shimbun
Public financing giant needs to trim down
政府系金融再編　「メガ公庫」のスリム化進めよ（9月21日付・読売社説）

The reorganization of eight government-affiliated financial institutions, which was prescribed in the structural reform policies of the administration of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, will begin in October.
　小泉構造改革で打ち出された政府系金融機関の再編が、１０月から実施される。

The reorganization is aimed at streamlining public financing, which is characterized by wasteful use of funds, and at entrusting to the private sector business fields it can look after. To enable the fruit of structural reforms to be harvested, efficiency should be further boosted after the reorganization.
　ムダが多い官製金融をスリム化し、民間が担える分野は民間に任せるのが狙いだ。改革の実を挙げるためには、再編後も効率化を図らねばならない。

Three government financial entities, including the National Life Finance Corporation, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation's international financial unit will be integrated to create the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC). The government-affiliated financial institutions will be fully unified when the Okinawa Development Finance Corporation is subsumed within the JFC sometime after fiscal 2012.
　国民生活金融公庫など３公庫と国際協力銀行の国際金融部門が統合し、「日本政策金融公庫」が誕生する。沖縄振興開発金融公庫も２０１２年度以降に合流し、政府系金融機関は一本化される。

The Development Bank of Japan and Shoko Chukin Bank will become government-funded companies. The two companies will be totally privatized between five and seven years from now.
The operations of Japan Finance Corporation for Municipal Enterprises will be transferred to an organization jointly funded by municipalities.
　日本政策投資銀行と商工組合中央金庫は政府出資の株式会社となり、５～７年後に完全民営化される。公営企業金融公庫は、地方自治体が出資する「地方公営企業等金融機構」に業務を引き継ぐ。

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JFC must assist public sector

With the revamping of the three financial institutions, including the Development Bank of Japan, the government's target of halving the balance of outstanding loans by government-affiliated financial institutions will be achieved. But this is not enough.
　日本政策投資銀など３機関が衣替えするため、政府系金融機関の融資残高を半減する政府目標は達成される。だが、それだけでは不十分である。

First of all, it is indispensable to streamline the JFC, which will have 25 trillion yen of outstanding loans--an amount equivalent to those held by Resona Holdings, Inc. For commercial banks targeting the same clients as the JFC--small and midsize companies--the massive government-affiliated financial institution will become a rival to be reckoned with.
　まず、日本政策金融公庫のスリム化が欠かせない。融資残高は２５兆円と大手銀行のりそなグループ並みだ。中小企業など得意先が重なる銀行にとって、「メガ公庫」は手強(ごわ)いライバルとなる。

The JFC should not steal the best clients from private banks. It should focus on business fields that only public financing can undertake, including offering loans to small and midsize companies hit by the credit crunch. It should devote its energies to complementing the public sector.
　優良顧客を公庫が民間銀行から横取りするようなことがあってはならない。貸し渋りに苦しむ中小企業への融資など、公的金融でなければ担えない案件に絞り、民業の補完に徹するべきだ。

Public financing will be put to the test at a time when the nation is grappling with a financial crisis and the threat of a recession looms. The government must prepare a system to supply a smooth flow of funds to businesses in need.
　金融危機や不況の時こそ政策金融の真価が問われる。円滑な資金供給体制を整えておきたい。

As a matter of course, the fact that the JFC will play such a role should not be used as an excuse to preserve the organization's structure intact.
　もちろん、こうした役割を組織温存の口実としてはならない。

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Do away with sectionalism

Although the number of executives will be reduced from the current 43 in the former four organizations, the JFC will still have 27 executives. This is a transparent bid by the supervisory authorities to create plum jobs into which they can parachute retiring government officials. The quota should be pared further.
　役員の定員は、旧４機関の合計４３人から減らすものの、まだ２７人もいる。天下り先を確保したい監督官庁の思惑が見え見えだ。さらに削り込むべきである。

While the number of JFC branches, at 152, will be two-thirds of the total of 233 of those of its predecessors, the number of workers will be trimmed just 5 percent from the about 8,000 staff now working for the predecessors. This problem results from the fact that the structures of each of the predecessor entities will be preserved after the reorganization.
　支店は統合前の２３３店から１５２店へと３分の２に減るのに、約８０００人の職員は５年で５％しか減らさない。旧機関別に組織が縦割りで残る弊害である。

To make the reorganization effective, it is vital to do away with sectionalism and reduce the number of staff substantially by setting a numerical target.
　統合効果を発揮するには、縦割りを解消し、数値目標を定め人員を大幅に削減する必要がある。

An assessment committee should be appointed to oversee the JFC to prevent cronyism.
　公庫を監視する評価委員会も、チェックがお手盛りにならぬよう、委員の人選が重要となる。

Meanwhile, after being privatized, the Development Bank of Japan and Shoko Chukin Bank will find themselves in a more severe business environment, in which they will have to bear the higher costs needed to raise funds, as they do not have an "unspoken guarantee from the government."
　一方、政策投資銀と商工中金は完全民営化されると「暗黙の政府保証」がなくなり、資金調達コストが高くなるなど、これまでより厳しい環境に置かれる。

In the process of becoming independent, it is imperative for the two organizations to make such management efforts as a thorough restructuring and development of highly profitable businesses.
　独り立ちに向け、徹底したリストラや収益性の高い事業の開発など、経営努力が欠かせない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 21, 2008)
（2008年9月21日01時54分 読売新聞）