UPDATE 1-Japan bank lending rises most in 3 years as pandemic-hit firms hoard cash <!-- no image --> <div>* BOJ steps focused on easing corporate funding strains (Recasts with milestones, context on pandemic impact)<div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=U4u8nwSS1lQ:GJ3vAZK-xi0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=U4u8nwSS1lQ:GJ3vAZK-xi0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?i=U4u8nwSS1lQ:GJ3vAZK-xi0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></a> <a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?a=U4u8nwSS1lQ:GJ3vAZK-xi0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/reuters/UKBankingFinancial?i=U4u8nwSS1lQ:GJ3vAZK-xi0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/reuters/UKBankingFinancial/~4/U4u8nwSS1lQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""></div> Posted by Reuters