Japan Enters The Keynesian Twilight Zone As Total Debt Crosses One Quadrillion Yen
Japan’s national debt exceeded 1,000 trillion yen for the first time, underscoring the case for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to proceed with a sales-tax increase to shore up government finances.
The country’s outstanding public debt including borrowings reached a record 1,008.6 trillion yen ($10.46 trillion) as of June 30, up 1.7 percent from three months earlier, the finance ministry said in Tokyo today. Larger than the economies of Germany, France and the U.K. combined, the amount includes 830.5 trillion yen in government bonds.
The world’s heaviest debt burden will weigh on Abe when he decides next month whether to implement a two-step plan to double the tax on consumers in a nation with ballooning welfare costs. While boosting the levy would drag on growth, Moody’s Investors Service yesterday warned that a worsening of finances would erode confidence in government bonds.
“Ballooning public debt underlines the need for Abe to push for a sales-tax increase,” said Long Hanhua Wang, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Tokyo. “This is a minimum policy requirement for his government.”
The levy on consumption is due to be raised to 8 percent in April from the current 5 percent, followed by an increase to 10 percent in October 2015. Abe said he would make a final call on the plan after the release of revised second-quarter gross domestic product data on Sept. 9.
Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-09/japan-s-debt-surpasses-1-quadrillion-yen-as-abe-weighs-tax-rise.html
Japan’s national debt exceeded 1,000 trillion yen for the first time, underscoring the case for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to proceed with a sales-tax increase to shore up government finances.
The country’s outstanding public debt including borrowings reached a record 1,008.6 trillion yen ($10.46 trillion) as of June 30, up 1.7 percent from three months earlier, the finance ministry said in Tokyo today. Larger than the economies of Germany, France and the U.K. combined, the amount includes 830.5 trillion yen in government bonds.
The world’s heaviest debt burden will weigh on Abe when he decides next month whether to implement a two-step plan to double the tax on consumers in a nation with ballooning welfare costs. While boosting the levy would drag on growth, Moody’s Investors Service yesterday warned that a worsening of finances would erode confidence in government bonds.
“Ballooning public debt underlines the need for Abe to push for a sales-tax increase,” said Long Hanhua Wang, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Tokyo. “This is a minimum policy requirement for his government.”
The levy on consumption is due to be raised to 8 percent in April from the current 5 percent, followed by an increase to 10 percent in October 2015. Abe said he would make a final call on the plan after the release of revised second-quarter gross domestic product data on Sept. 9.
Read More: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-09/japan-s-debt-surpasses-1-quadrillion-yen-as-abe-weighs-tax-rise.html