Most banks have shed their burden of bad loans. The Nikkei 225 average has recovered from rock bottom and the economy is finally picking up. But what about Japan's debt-ridden finances?
With only three months to go before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leaves office, his successor will inherit many pending or unfinished tasks, including the onus of raising taxes to whittle away at a government debt expected to reach 827.5 trillion yen at the end of fiscal 2006 next March, vs. some 46 trillion yen in annual tax revenue.
Of several pledges Koizumi made soon after he took office in April 2001, that of promoting structural reform via government budgetary belt-tightening perhaps drew the most praise from experts.