Japan could face a financial crisis like that of Greece if it does not deal urgently with its swelling national debt, new Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned on June 11.
Speaking in his first address to the Parliament after taking office, Kan said Japan cannot continue to rely on bonds to pay the government debt, while state finances are under pressure from an aging and declining
population.
To tackle this issue, the new government should perform thorough reform in order to restore the nation’s healthy finance along with reforming taxes and cutting wasteful spending, he said.
Kan promised his government would complete the drafting of a medium-term financial framework by the end of this month that will cap budget spending for three years from fiscal 2011.
Japan , the world's second-largest economy, has the largest public debt among industrialised nations at 218.6 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Also on June 11, PM Kan appointed Shozaburo Jimi, Secretary General of the People's New Party (PNP), as the minister in charge of financial services and postal reform, following the resignation of PNP President Shizuka Kamei.
Kamei formally resigned as a member of Kan 's Cabinet to protest the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) decision to postpone the passage of a postal service reform bill./.
Speaking in his first address to the Parliament after taking office, Kan said Japan cannot continue to rely on bonds to pay the government debt, while state finances are under pressure from an aging and declining
population.
To tackle this issue, the new government should perform thorough reform in order to restore the nation’s healthy finance along with reforming taxes and cutting wasteful spending, he said.
Kan promised his government would complete the drafting of a medium-term financial framework by the end of this month that will cap budget spending for three years from fiscal 2011.
Japan , the world's second-largest economy, has the largest public debt among industrialised nations at 218.6 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Also on June 11, PM Kan appointed Shozaburo Jimi, Secretary General of the People's New Party (PNP), as the minister in charge of financial services and postal reform, following the resignation of PNP President Shizuka Kamei.
Kamei formally resigned as a member of Kan 's Cabinet to protest the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) decision to postpone the passage of a postal service reform bill./.
