The government's outstanding debt at the end of June totaled 502.3687 trillion yen, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier and topping the 500 trillion yen mark for the first time, the Finance Ministry reported Monday.
The latest debt figure exceeds Japan's estimated gross domestic product for fiscal 2000 -- 498 trillion yen -- and serves as another reminder of the nation's serious fiscal condition.
The sharp increase came as the government, hoping to avoid a steep rise in long-term interest rates, boosted the issue of bonds with medium-term maturities of between two and five years, instead of those with long-term maturities of 10 years or longer.