The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed on a plan Tuesday to create a single public lender by scrapping one, privatizing two and integrating the remaining five.
But they postponed many key decisions on the plan until March.
One is the much-debated question of how to handle yen-loan operations. Yen loans, which finance Japan's official development assistance, are a powerful diplomatic tool for a country that cannot sell weapons or flex its military muscle.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.