Hiroshi Yamagiwa - The Japan Times

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Hiroshi Yamagiwa

For Hiroshi Yamagiwa's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

JAPAN

Jun 14, 2000

Vision said key to campaign

It's all about the vision thing, or the lack of it, thinks Keio University economics professor Heizo Takenaka about the campaign for the Lower House election.

JAPAN / ELECTION 2000

Jun 3, 2000

Public spending unproductive, economist says

Masaru Kaneko, an economics professor at Hosei University, is harshly critical of the way the Liberal Democratic Party has been spending taxpayers' money on public works projects and to bail out big banks.

BUSINESS

May 2, 2000

Norinchukin plotting 401(k) course

If farmers want to join Japan's equivalent of U.S. 401(k) pension plans, there is no reason why agricultural cooperatives should not provide related services.

BUSINESS

Mar 14, 2000

Predictions cautious on economic recovery

The gross domestic product data for October-December released Monday sent mixed signals, with higher plant and equipment investment coupled with dismal consumer spending.

BUSINESS

Mar 2, 2000

Diverse portfolio key to 401(k)

Deutsche Bank Group sees itself as uniquely qualified to usher in the planned new 401(k)-type of pension programs in Japan, but an official of the Frankfurt-based financial giant has reservations about how well the system will be received.

JAPAN

Feb 28, 2000

New FRC chief vows fairness, details transparency hurdles

Staff writer Sadakazu Tanigaki, new chief of the Financial Reconstruction Commission, said Monday that he will be committed to "fairness and transparency" in handling reforms to the banking system, following the sudden resignation of his predecessor for seemingly antireform remarks. "The nation's administration over financial institutions has been radically shifted to rule-based transparent administration" in recent years, he said in an interview. "Basically, I will follow this direction." Tanigaki, 54, was appointed FRC chairman and Cabinet minister Friday by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi after Michi Ochi resigned for making comments that were widely interpreted as suggesting the FRC could be selectively lenient in its inspections. Bank inspections are carried out by the Financial Supervisory Agency, another state agency whose authority is delegated by the FRC. Tanigaki explained one dilemma he faces in entering his new job: that while direct meetings with bankers can help him understand the reality of their situations, they also invite the risk of discretionary administration. "How (the authority) keeps or does not keep its distance from people is an eternal question in a democracy," he said, adding that it finally comes down to making reasonable judgments of politicians. But he stressed it would be unacceptable if his conversations with bankers were taken as bending the rules. As major banks reinforced their capital bases with public money last year, consolidation of small banks and credit cooperatives will be considered the primary task of the FRC in 2000 and 2001. He said regional financial institutions should try hard to be more competitive and support regional economies, but added it is not the FRC's job to decide what they should do. The FRC will consider capital injection only after these banks apply on their own initiative, he said. The recent moves of nonbank firms trying to enter the banking business, particularly Internet banking, interests him greatly, he said. The FRC is in charge of bank licensing as well. Internet banking may improve consumer convenience, help develop financial technologies and bring in new types of banks, all of which should stimulate the sluggish economy, he said. But while Tanigaki feels positive about the moves, he is still cautious of potential risks of nonbank firms operating banks. "To be honest, we do not have an answer to that yet," he said. One of those firms, Ito- Yokado Co., a leading supermarket chain operator, plans to begin banking operations, but its plan must first be evaluated by the FRC.Ito-Yokado plans to create a bank that would primarily earn revenues from fees charged by automated teller machines to be installed at convenience stores of subsidiary Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Meanwhile, Tanigaki expressed concern about the controversial bank tax planned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. He said the tax is not consistent with the central government's efforts to reconstruct the banking sector with public funds. Tanigaki, a lawyer from Kyoto Prefecture, has been a member of the House of Representatives for the Liberal Democratic Party since 1983. He served as parliamentary vice minister from July 1998 to October 1999 under Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. The ministry and the FRC are jointly responsible for policy-planning to prevent financial crises. In October's Cabinet reshuffle, Tanigaki had emerged as a candidate for FRC chief. But he declined the post because, it was believed, he belongs to the LDP faction led by Koichi Kato, who was a major contender against Obuchi in the LDP presidential election the preceding month.

JAPAN

Feb 22, 2000

Tokyo's tax plan too bold for government to touch

Staff writer The Cabinet effectively admitted on Tuesday that there is nothing the central government can do -- at least for now -- to stop Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara from implementing his plan to tax banks. One option the central government may have to forestall the negative effects it says the tax will bring is to revise the Local Tax Law, which apparently makes Tokyo's plan legal. Another option would be to take the opportunity to introduce a similar local corporate tax, lighter and broader in scope, to all prefectures. While such a package would be technically feasible and popular in many prefectures, its political feasibility remains uncertain.Tokyo's bank-tax plan is based on article 72 of the Local Tax Law, which allows local governments to flexibly set the basis for local corporate taxation. At present, the local corporate tax in all prefectures is levied on companies' profits, protecting those in the red. Tokyo instead plans to levy a 3 percent tax on large banks' gross profits, which are always positive because they are the amount from which costs and losses are subtracted. "There is one means left to stop Tokyo," a Finance Ministry official said. "Just revising the local tax law would do it." But that idea has not been seriously discussed within the government because limiting the leeway that local governments have in setting their own taxes is widely considered contrary to the trend of decentralization. Any revision to stop Tokyo could also make it impossible for other deficit-ridden prefectures to find new ways of securing revenue. Hence the calls for a new corporate tax. Yoshihiko Tsuchiya, governor of Saitama Prefecture and head of the national governors' association, requested Monday that Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki introduce a stable method of taxing local businesses nationwide as soon as possible. The kind of tax that Tsuchiya wants is similar to what Tokyo envisions in that it would be levied on more stable criteria, such as aggregate salaries or the number of employees, rather than profits. The major difference, however, is that this universal tax would be a mile wide and an inch deep to target all sectors at a low rate. In fact, a so-called "gaikei-hyojun" local tax that can even be applied to loss-making firms has long been under consideration by the central government. But business associations have blocked such plans in past decades for that very reason. This is believed to be one of the reasons why Ishihara is targeting only banks, which the public now dislikes. The government Tax Commission, an advisory panel to the prime minister, proposed in July that a local corporate tax should be introduced as soon as possible to stabilize prefectural government revenues, but it added that the state of the economy must be considered in timing such a plan. The Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel, which has more immediate power on annual tax revisions, is also aiming to introduce such a tax. But the economic slump has halted the move so far, apparently making recovery the precondition for a new universal tax.

BUSINESS

Feb 3, 2000

Citigroup unit to participate in pension business

A Japanese unit of Citigroup of the United States is ready to tie up with the vast nationwide network of state-run post offices in entering the new pension business.

JAPAN

Feb 1, 2000

Citigroup unit to join post offices for pensions

Staff writer A Japanese unit of Citigroup of the United States is ready to tie up with the vast nationwide network of state-run post offices in entering the new pension business. "We stand ready to support them in any way that we can," Gary Jackson, director of defined-contribution plans at the Tokyo-based SSB Citi Asset Management Co., said in an interview. More than 24,000 post offices, operated by the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, will be allowed to sell financial products designed for the planned pension plans modeled on 401(k) retirement plans in the United States. Jackson said no deal has been made yet, adding "that's a decision that they will have to make." Citibank, the group's retail bank, already has a relationship with post offices that allows its depositors to use postal automatic teller machines. The bank will be one of the "vendors" of investment tools managed by SSB Citi. The planned expansion of the post office's financial services, however, is expected to draw fresh criticism. Its savings and insurance services already have already been criticized as obstacles to commercial banks and insurers. SSB Citi intends to provide both of the two types of pension plans -- corporate and individual types -- to be allowed under the government scheme, Jackson said. This scheme for defined-contribution plans is scheduled to start as early as January 2001. In the corporate type, companies will have tax advantages for their contributions to their workers' plans. Employed workers in a limited category and the self-employed can join the individual type, in which they can make tax-exempt contributions. In both types, individual participants will choose investment options. Benefits depend on the results of investments, unlike conventional defined-benefit plans, which are fixed. Jackson said his asset management firm will tie up with two Japanese record-keeping companies -- Japan Investor Solutions & Technologies Co. and Nippon Record Keeping System Co. The record keeping firms will keep track of data on individual accounts in pension plans. But if these firms want to learn from Citigroup, it is willing to share its knowhow in the U.S. 401(k) business, he said. SSB Citi in Japan was born in October when Tokyo units of Salomon Brothers Asset Management and Smith Barney Asset Management, both of which are members of Citigroup, were combined. Jackson said the defined-contribution pension business is not very lucrative because costs are high and profit margins slim. Yet he said, "strategically we must be in the defined-contribution business here" because Japan, the world's second largest economy, is important to the financial group's total business. The enormous amount of assets expected to be pooled in the new pension plans is also attractive, he indicated. "We do not expect to be a dominant player in this marketplace, but we do expect to be a meaningful player," he said. The planned tax incentives for the new pensions are smaller than expected, and it was an "unfortunate decision" by the government, he said. But he expressed overall optimism for his pension business, saying the first few years of new pensions will not make much difference in the long run. "I think defined-contribution plans 10 years from now would be a roaring success in Japan."

JAPAN

Jan 27, 2000

State considers move to inflation targeting

Staff writer With little room left for government spending to stimulate the fragile economy, political pressure on the Bank of Japan is rising. The Liberal Democratic Party's panel on financial affairs decided Thursday to launch a working team next week to study whether the BOJ should adopt inflation targeting, a controversial policy in which monetary policy is manipulated to achieve a desired rate of inflation. The panel will even consider possible changes to the BOJ Law or the Fiscal Law, said Hideyuki Aizawa, head of the panel. Proponents say setting an inflation target, for example at a range from 1 percent to 3 percent, would counteract the deflationary pressure currently facing Japan and, they say, stimulate consumption and investment spending. Inflation targeting of a different sort has been adopted by several industrialized countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia; the targets in these countries are meant to prevent excessive inflation, not stop deflation. But opponents, including BOJ officials, say it would be difficult to stop inflation within the target range, and market expectations for rising inflation would trigger a dangerous surge in long-term interest rates. While the Finance Ministry is officially mum on the issue -- vice Minister Nobuaki Usui said Thursday the issue is in the BOJ's jurisdiction -- Takatoshi Ito, a prominent economist and deputy vice finance minister for international affairs, called for inflation targeting in an article published in October, albeit from a personal stand. The BOJ is not inexperienced with political pressure, which persists even since the revised BOJ Law gave it some independence in April 1998. In early 1999, calls were rising for the BOJ to buy newly issued government bonds to curb a surge in long-term interest rates, an action prohibited in principle by the Fiscal Law. The bank has rejected the idea, saying it would allow rampant fiscal spending and lead to hyperinflation. Then last fall, politicians demanded the bank ease its monetary policy further to stop the yen's appreciation against the dollar, though the BOJ insisted it was already providing sufficient liquidity in the money market. And now, the LDP's Aizawa said he personally doubts there is any effective tool of fiscal policy available if the economy does not pick up. Therefore, he is eyeing the BOJ's monetary policy. Given the swollen government deficit and its massive debt, the proposed 85 trillion yen fiscal 2000 budget may be the final huge expenditure, as Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa stresses it will be. Aizawa knows that there are opponents to inflation targeting inside the LDP, and there must be others among its coalition partners. But one should not underestimate what Aizawa, a one-time vice finance minister, and his counterparts in the Liberal Party and New Komeito are capable of doing. He is one of the minority politicians in the ruling coalition who were calling to postpone the end of full governmental protection of bank deposits, considered a key banking reform. These politicians somehow got what they wanted in a surprising agreement in December, which was widely seen as backtracking on Japan's financial reform efforts. Aizawa also has been calling for another radical change -- a redenomination of the yen so 100 yen would be counted as 1 yen. For now, however, his sights are on inflation targeting.

JAPAN

Jan 21, 2000

French back weaker yen

French Finance Minister Christian Sautter on Friday said he still shares Japan's concern over the yen's appreciation.

JAPAN

Jan 20, 2000

G-7 expected to hold low-stress meeting

Staff writer Policy coordination over the yen's rise against the dollar will be the biggest issue for Japan at Saturday's financial meeting of the Group of Seven industrial countries in Tokyo. Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa hopes the G-7 will share Japan's concern about the yen's appreciation; the proof will be in a joint statement to be issued after the meeting. In the past, the United States and Europe have expressed different opinions about the yen, and now the currency markets are holding their breath to see whether the statement will mention the yen's appreciation. Aside from the currency issue, Miyazawa, the host of the meeting, is not expected to face a rough ride as the world economy has improved since the last G-7 gathering in Washington in September. "At this rate, I think this G-7 meeting will be one without much confrontation," Miyazawa said last week. A European government official was also optimistic, saying there will be "no stress" compared with the previous meeting. This will be the first G-7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors to be held in Japan. It will also serve as a preliminary for the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa in July. Besides the still-fragile economy and ongoing corporate restructuring in Japan, likely topics include the robust U.S. economy, which some consider overheated, and the improving economies of Europe. The recovery of emerging markets -- Asian and Latin American countries hit by financial crises since 1997 -- and their remaining problems will also be taken up. The financial chiefs will also review the international financial systems for crisis prevention and explore ways to expedite the debt-relief initiative for poor countries. The G-7 members are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The G-7 plus Russia make up the G-8. Michel Camdessus, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will join the discussion about the world economy. Camdessus plans to resign in mid-February. Currently, Caio Koch-Weser, German deputy finance minister, is thought to be the leading candidate to succeed him, but support from other countries is far from solid. Japan is pushing Eisuke Sakakibara, former vice finance minister for international Japan's priority at the meeting is to gain cooperation in preventing an excessive appreciation of the yen. Miyazawa has repeatedly expressed a strong determination to prevent a rapid rise of the yen, saying it will delay economic recovery. A stronger yen can hurt Japanese exports by raising their prices abroad and thus make them less competitive. But Japan's G-7 counterparts see things differently. The U.S. does not want Japan to seek a weaker yen and export-led recovery. And, as Miyazawa admitted, European countries appear content with recent foreign exchange The joint statement issued after the September meeting said the G-7 "shared Japan's concern about the potential impact of the yen's rise on the Japanese economy and the world economy." Before that gathering, the yen had been rapidly surging toward 100 to the dollar, reflecting market expectations of an economic recovery in Japan. But recently, the yen-dollar rate has been stable at around 105 yen. Japan stepped into the currency market to sell yen for dollars on Jan. 4. when the yen-dollar rate neared 100 yen. The 100 yen level is the current line of defense for Japan, as Miyazawa uncharacteristically pointed out on Jan. 7. He recently said currency movements after the G-7 meeting must be carefully watched, noting the markets usually become volatile during such times. At the meeting, Miyazawa will also explain the continuing expansionary spending by the government, including the proposed 85 trillion yen fiscal 2000 budget, which requires 33 trillion yen in bond issues. He will probably then express hope that the economy will begin to recover by summer. The fact that Japan's fiscal deficit and government debt are the worst in the G-7, however, could be a source of concern for the other countries. Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami will stress that the central bank will continue its "zero-interest rate" policy aimed to shore up the economy. The bank's monetary policy is expected to draw attention, though not as much as at the September meeting. Most participants will be keen to exchange opinions regarding the long inflation-free boom that has been pushing the U.S. economy. The advance is being led by technological innovation, which has given rise to an insatiable appetite for information technology issues on U.S. bourses. There is now growing concern that with astronomical price-to-earnings ratios on many Internet-related stocks, the boom has become a U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan last week indicated the need to raise interest rates to cool down the economic temperature. Russian Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, deputy of the acting president Vladimir Putin, will also join part of the G-7 discussion and explain the current situation of the Russian economy. Other participants include Willem Duisenberg, governor of the European Central Bank, and Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese finance minister and representative of the 11 European countries that share the n. Before the G-7 meeting starts at noon Saturday, Miyazawa will hold bilateral talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and French Finance Minister Christian Sautter.

JAPAN

Dec 30, 1999

Japanese consumers opting for riskier, more rewarding investments

Staff writer Are the Japanese changing the way they save money, turning to risky but potentially rewarding financial investments? The rising popularity of investment trusts may provide a clue. Net assets of investment trusts, or mutual funds, amounted to 53.3 trillion yen at the end of November, up 25 percent from December 1998 -- the largest amount since the 58.6 trillion yen recorded in 1989 at the height of the asset-inflated bubble economy. As a backdrop, fund sales by banks as a result of the deregulation introduced in December 1998 have brought the hitherto unfamiliar financial products closer to consumers. But according to a popular fund analyst, Kumi Fujisawa, the single biggest driving force has been the rebound the Japanese stock market experienced in 1999. Fujisawa also said 1999 has been a historic year as many Japanese, increasingly concerned about job security and the future, became serious about investment trusts. Fujisawa jointly founded IFIS Inc., Japan's first fund-rating firm, in 1996 and sold it to Standard & Poor's, an American credit-rating company, in August 1999. She currently serves as a director of S&P fund services in Tokyo. In an interview, she analyzed recent moves surrounding investment trusts and their implications for 2000. The following are excerpts: How was 1999 for investment trusts? It was the year that helped revive investment trusts. It was the year when people began talking about investment funds and buying them with correct knowledge. There were no such people before; now there are at least some. It was effectively "Year One" for investment trusts. What was the biggest event during the year since bank deregulation? A rise in Japanese stocks. If the stocks had not risen, then probably nothing would have changed. Star fund-managers and flagship funds have been emerging because of rising stocks. Do you see any change in the saving attitudes of the Japanese? Yes. Especially people in their 30s and 40s. More and more people feel they can't count on pensions. The storm of corporate restructuring has eroded their confidence in their future money. They began to think, "I have to do something." The very low interest rates (on bank savings) are certainly a factor, but more importantly, concerns about the future have prompted many of them to try investment trusts. The growing number of certified financial planners reflects the increasing numbers of these types of people. Many housewives are taking tests to get qualified. After qualifying, they attend study groups and learn more about investment trusts. Do those housewives become professional? They don't do it for a living. Many women tend to simply seek qualifications when they feel the need to act. Men are interested in investment trusts but tend to quickly switch to stock investment. They first buy investment trusts, particularly Japanese-stock funds, but after discovering that the prices of individual stocks rise faster than funds, they get greedy and begin investing directly in stocks. Does that mean they are getting used to investment risks? They are not experiencing real risks because stocks have been rising. They feel as if they are managing risks. This is a very worrying phenomenon. Is that trend true of investment trust buyers as well? Yes, and it is my biggest concern. To manage risks, what you must do is make long-term investments and diversify your portfolio. But many people are doing neither -- they buy and sell funds in the short term and buy Japanese-stock funds only. This is a common feature of those who only bought Japanese-stock funds in the 1980s, saw the prices plunging in the 1990s, and hate investment trusts now. Had they diversified their investment by also buying American and European-stock funds, they could have increased their assets by perhaps 10 times. How do you think this type of "risky" investment will turn out in 2000? Some will have to do some soul-searching if there is a correction in the market (meaning a temporary fall in stocks), which I think will probably happen. Wouldn't the "soul-searching" dampen the popularity of investment trusts? It sure would. But investment is just like one's life: no one leads a life in which everything goes well. Some people try investment trusts, become dejected and come to hate funds. Yet those who have learned a lesson or two will come back and buy funds. What changes are occurring in the investment trust business? I think sellers are the biggest problem in this business. Take securities firms, for example. They said throughout the 1990s that they would shift their emphasis to customer consultation and increase net assets of funds by recommending long-term investment. But when stock prices began surging last spring, most brokerages returned to commission-seeking sales that encouraged customers to switch funds frequently. How have banks changed since they began selling funds? At the beginning, I thought it would not work. If you tried to buy funds at banks, they just emphasized risks and hesitated to sell (relatively riskier) stock funds, but recently, they have even been recommending stock funds because stock prices have gone up. However, from conversations with workers at banks' headquarters, I have noticed that they never buy funds. How can you recommend something to customers that you have never bought? In normal retail business, sellers usually taste or try on goods before selling them and tell customers what's good and bad about the goods. If that's the case, where should people buy funds? At the moment I recommend online brokers because some banks ignore customers who spend less than 500,000 yen on funds. It may take you some courage to buy only a 10,000 yen fund after consulting with these banks. At online brokers, sellers don't frown, even if you buy a 10,000 yen fund. And you can send questions by e-mail and receive written -- and therefore reliable -- responses. But it should take time before online trading takes root in Japan, where many people still don't feel at ease buying investment trusts. New "defined-contribution" pensions similar to 401(k) plans in the United States, to be managed mainly in investment trusts, are expected to be introduced in late 2000. Tax incentives for participants in the plans were included in the government tax-reform package formalized in December 1999. Will the scheme boost the investment trust market? Those half-baked tax incentives are not going to help defined-contribution pension plans take root in Japan. The scheme would have given individuals a tool to manage their own pensions that complement public pensions. I am really disappointed with the tax reform package. I think a structural change in society will have a greater impact on the investment trust market. Increasing mergers and subsequent massive restructuring in the financial industry, for instance, are threatening job security. That will increase the number of people who worry about the future. Then they will consider financial investment. The more unemployed there are, the more seriously people think. It is, however, a painful process.

JAPAN

Dec 24, 1999

Ramifications of the 2000 budget

Staff writer The 85 trillion yen fiscal 2000 state budget, approved by the Cabinet Friday, will put the nation deeper into debt. How serious is the debt and what can be done about it? Here are some questions and answers about the new budget and government debt: Why did the government prepare an aggressive budget for a second year in a row? Economic recovery is the government's short-term priority over debt reduction. Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said this will be the final expansionary budget to normalize the economy. As a backdrop, politicians cannot ignore a looming general election, which must be held no later than next October. How big will the government debt grow? Some 33 trillion yen in bonds will be newly issued in fiscal 2000. The accumulated outstanding bonds are estimated to reach 364 trillion yen in March 2001. The gross debt of the central and local governments combined will expand to an estimated 647 trillion yen, exceeding the size of the nation's gross domestic product by 30 percent. Japan has the worst fiscal situation in the industrialized world. What is bad about government debt?It has to be paid back with interest. The annual state budget includes debt servicing to redeem bonds and pay interest. Interest payments alone will total 10.7 trillion yen in fiscal 2000, accounting for 12.6 percent of the state budget. Including capital payments, debt-servicing accounts for a quarter of the latest budget, leaving shrinking room for policy programs. Imagine a person who has no choice but to cut down on living expenses to repay a debt. The government debt will pose an increasingly serious problem as the nation's population ages -- fewer children and more old people. Social security spending is almost certain to rise while the economy is unlikely to grow dramatically. What if the government just keeps borrowing? A glut of government bonds in the market may trigger a rise in long-term interest rates. Higher interest rates can hurt business activity by raising borrowing costs. Higher rates will also inflate government interest payments, which have been leveling in recent years thanks to the super-low interest. Also, a hopelessly swollen debt may corrode investor confidence in government bonds, a situation that will drive interest rates up to attract investors, making a vicious circle. Does the issue of interest rates relate to the heated debate early this year about whether the Bank of Japan should buy government bonds? Yes. Political pressure may mount again on the central bank to do so to check a rise in interest rates. Critics warn that such a move could cause dangerous inflation by providing easy money for reckless government spending. Doesn't it make sense for the government to stimulate the economy to secure tax revenues?Not necessarily. According to a simple simulation by the Finance Ministry, even if the nominal GDP grows 3.5 percent until fiscal 2003, tax revenues will increase by only 1 trillion yen to 2 trillion yen each year. The figure is marginal compared with the 33 trillion yen in bond issues and 22 trillion yen in debt-servicing in the 2000 budget. An economic recovery will also push up interest rates as companies try to borrow more for investments in plants and equipment. Even if that does not stop the recovery, the government debt-servicing will certainly surge. In short, the fiscal situation will not improve even if the economy recovers. Is there no way out? The only rational way to reduce the huge debt is to increase revenues and cut spending. Indeed, many people believe some kind of tax hike is unavoidable, particularly in the consumption tax. Many also recognize the need to slash spending, especially in seemingly inefficient projects and government personnel costs. But the timing for a policy shift is debatable. Leading policymakers, including Miyazawa, believe this is not the right time. Yet some economists argue that a reliable austerity policy may even encourage consumption when the government has a huge debt, because people will not expect as large a tax increase as otherwise. A question for the next few years is when will the belt-tightening Fiscal Structural Reform Law -- frozen since last December only a year after its enactment -- be revived and reinforced?

JAPAN

Nov 18, 1999

2000 may be watershed year for yen

JAPAN

Nov 16, 1999

Tax panel stuck between state finances, election

JAPAN

Nov 9, 1999

Y2K problem wrecks holiday season for finance industry

JAPAN

Oct 27, 1999

Ministry to review U.S. base funding

JAPAN

Oct 22, 1999

The 401(K) Approach: Firm offers pension guidance

JAPAN

Sep 23, 1999

Will G7 nations agree to rein in yen?

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami will attend a meeting Saturday of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Washington, at a time when policy coordination over the yen's rapid rise against the dollar is being closely watched.

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