economy. To promote savings which could be invested into rebuilding the economy, Japanese officials issued relentless statements advocating for austerity and instituted measures to restore confidence in the financial system. From the 1950s, postal savings experienced steady growth and increased its market share relative to private banks, thanks to the huge availability of postal offices, attractive financial products offering good returns and preferential tax treatment on deposits from the government. During the Allied Occupation of Japan, deposits into the postal savings system were allowed to be invested only in government and municipal bonds and private financial institutions were mainly responsible for issuing capital. After a revision in public financing in 1951, due to the need for funds for both rebuilding and the Korean War, funds could once again be deposited at the Ministry of Finance and invested in industry through the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program (FILP). Financial corporations were established by the government to make loans to government and industrial bodies which contributed to rapid industrial development and economic growth. From the 1953, the funds distributed through FILP totaled one-half to one-third of the national budget. In 2001, amid a controversy over the privatization of Japan Post Bank and the political influence over the use of FILP funds, a reform was passed which ended the official linkage between FILP and Japan Post Bank deposits, although funds continued to flow in practice. Privatization In 2005, a bill to privatize the Japanese postal office was passed, which included the privatization of Japan's postal banking services as a separate company in the same ownership structure as other post office holdings. This process began in 2007. The bill intended to make Japan Post Bank an independent entity, with the government selling off its shared by 2017, and that it would continue to operate out of post office branches of the Japan Post Service, the equivalent company formed for postal services. The plan for privatization did not proceed smoothly. In 2009, in response to the financial crisis, privatization was halted and savings were encouraged to fund stimulus spending. In 2011, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, shares of the postal bank were once again permitted to be sold to help finance rebuilding after the disaster. In 2015, Japan Post Bank had its shares offered for sale in the Tokyo Stock Exchange for the first time, with about 10% of its shares offered. Progress towards