The Japanese government wants to use the assets of Japan Post, the world’s largest bank by deposits, to spur regional development in Japan and expand into overseas lending.

“We will use the (post office’s) network, which can be said to be a national asset, in a multi-faceted way for regional societies,” Shizuka Kamei, financial services minister told the Financial Times on Monday. The assets are currently mainly held in US Treasuries and Japanese government bonds.