Loans made to welfare facilities and medical institutions that ran short of funds during the coronavirus pandemic have left ¥91.8 billion unrecoverable, the Board of Audit found after examining lending by the Welfare and Medical Service Agency, according to reports on Thursday.
The losses stem from borrowers going under and other failures, the audit found. The Welfare and Medical Service Agency is an independent administrative institution that channels public lending to the welfare and medical sectors.
The finding points to a side effect of emergency pandemic lending: money extended to keep struggling operators afloat postponed closures rather than preventing them, and a share of it will not come back.
The audit covered lending under the coronavirus response program, which offered funds to care homes and clinics whose finances were hit by the pandemic. The unrecoverable total covers loans where borrowers failed or recovery is otherwise judged impossible.