Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Tuesday that a new depositor-protection system should replace a "payoff" plan scheduled to begin in April 2001.
That plan will protect deposits of up to 10 million yen if a bank goes bankrupt. The current safety net, which includes financial revitalization laws and full protection of all deposits at banks that go bankrupt, is valid only until March 2001.
"We absolutely needed this extremely comprehensive safety net that we have today ...," Hayami told a news conference. "(But) we need to start thinking about what will happen when such a scheme is gone."