According to recently collected data from the Ministry of Social Affairs, only 37% of special government loans granted to people in need during the COVID-19 pandemic have been repaid.
Of the roughly ¥104.7 billion in such loans — which mature at the end of 2023 — about ¥38.7 billion has been repaid, while the rest, about ¥65.9 billion, has not yet been repaid, the data show.
Local social welfare councils are urging people with overdue loans to repay the money, through visits or sending documents to their homes. However, in many cases, such loans have not been recovered, mainly because the borrowers were unable to rebuild their lives even after the pandemic.
