Debt approaching 1 quadrillion, and the highest as a % of GDP anywhere I know of, and still no bond vigilantes in sight!

Who would have thought???

Not to mention decades of 0 rates, massive QE, and in general the BOJ trying as hard as it can to inflate.

Maybe it’s not all that easy for a CB to cause inflation???

Anyway, net fiscal will add a bit to GDP, but nothing serious, and the hawkish rhetoric doesn’t seem to have changed any.

And note the cuts in welfare ‘paying for’ the increases in defense and infrastructure.

Of the Y92.6 trillion yen in spending, Y43.1 trillion will be financed with tax revenues and Y42.9 trillion with issuance of new bonds, adding to Japan’s massive public sector debt that already totals nearly Y1 quadrillion.

The FY2013 budget does show clear differences from those of the previous DPJ administration, with a clear shift away from social welfare toward defense and infrastructure programs.


It calls for a reduction of Y67 billion in welfare benefits over the next three years, an increase of Y712 billion, or 15.6% in public works programs and a Y35 billion, or 0.8% increase in spending for the Self-Defense Forces.

“Adequate amounts have been provided to ensure the safety of public infrastructure and to address public concerns about national defense,” Mr. Aso said.

The LDP’s call for aggressive public works spending got better reception after the collapse of an expressway tunnel in December that killed nine people. Simmering tensions with China have also increased support for spending programs to improve security of Japanese territory.

In a policy address Monday, Mr. Abe vowed to erase fiscal deficits in the medium-to-long term, but stopped short of saying when, leaving the task to his economic advisory panel.

Sayuri Kawamura, a Japan Research Institute economist, is worried that not enough attention has been given to the risk of fiscal implosion.

“As debt piles up, the cost of servicing that debt also goes up, eating deeper into tax revenue, and leaving less and less for policy programs. The government hasn’t explained how they are going to deal with this challenge,” Ms. Kawamura said.