I see nothing ‘expansionary’ here:
JAPAN GOVT TOP PANEL: MUST AIM TO KEEP PRIMARY BUDGET BALANCE TARGETS TO FIX PUBLIC FINANCES
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: FISCAL REFORM IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR ‘ABENOMICS’ TO HAVE SUSTAINED EFFECTS
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: MONETARY EASING MUST BE BACKED BY GOVT’S FISCAL DISCIPLINE TO AVOID CONCERN ON MONETISATION
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: AIMS TO CREATE FAVOURABLE CYCLE OF ECONOMIC REVIVAL AND FISCAL REFORM
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: UPTREND IN CONSUMER PRICES WILL STRENGTHEN GRADUALLY FROM MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: WILL KEEP CLOSE WATCH ON IMPACT FROM RISE IN IMPORT PRICES AND FINANCIAL MKT MOVEMENTS AND RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: MUST PAY ATTENTION TO GLOBAL ECONOMY, FINANCIAL MKT AND RESTRICTION ON POWER SUPPLY AS RISKS TO ECONOMY
JAPAN GOVT PANEL: WILL REVISE FISCAL SPENDING INCLUDING AREA OF SOCIAL SECURITY
TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) – Japan aims to stick to its targets for fiscal consolidation to curb its massive public debt, the government’s top macroeconomic policy panel said on Thursday, despite concerns that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might back pedal on the promises.
The previous Democratic Party-led government had set targets of halving its primary deficit – the budget excluding new bond sales and debt servicing – by March 2016 and returning to surplus by March 2021.
The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) also said Japan aims to lower the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio in a stable manner after achieving the primary balance target.
Japan’s public debt is already more than twice the size of its 500 trillion yen ($5 trillion) economy and any sign that the government was backing off on the fiscal reform targets or on its plan to double the five percent sales tax by October 2015 could make the Japanese government bond market nervous.
Abe, who took office last December after his Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) big election win, has made his “Abenomics” prescription for rescuing the economy from deflation and engineering sustainable growth his top priority.
CEFP has legal authority to craft long-term fiscal and macroeconomic policies, and it issues policy guidelines around this time of the year, which will be reflected in an annual budget and other key policies.