The announcement Wednesday of a fiscal 2000 supplementary budget, which is expected to surpass 10 trillion yen in total size and include 4 trillion yen in new government spending, has prompted some economists to wonder why a budget of that scale is needed now.
Although the economists share a view that some fiscal measures are necessary to ensure economic recovery, they questioned the size of the budget and the efficacy of various measures to be taken under it.
Masaru Takagi, a professor of economics at Meiji University, cast doubt on the government's pledge to minimize the issuance of government bonds, saying that pumping nearly 4 trillion yen into the economy while repressing bond issuance is a "bold attempt."