Monkey see, monkey do…

Noda: Need To Curb Spending From Sept If Bond Bill Not Enacted

July 4 (Dow Jones) — Japan’s finance minister Tuesday urged opposition parties to quickly approve a key bond issuance bill, saying the government would have to curb spending as early as September with the economy still struggling to recover from the March 11 disaster.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s plea comes as the opposition continues to block the passage of a bill that would enable the government to issue new debt to fund roughly 40% of the spending in the annual budget for the current fiscal year, started April.

“If the deficit-financing bond issuance bill isn’t passed, we would start having trouble smoothly implementing the budget in September or later, and would have to make an agonizing decision to curb spending,” Noda said at a news conference after a regular Cabinet meeting.