Japan PM says yen's rise hurting small firms

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TOKYO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Monday that the recent rise in the yen has been tough for small firms.

Hatoyama added that he hoped the government could come up with a good answer to a proposal from the new banking minister to give smaller companies a period of grace in repaying their bank loans. [ID:nT137543]

The dollar fell to an eight-month low of 88.23 yen on Monday as investors unwound short yen positions and as expectations faded that Japan would intervene at these levels. [FRX/] FXNEWS (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)