Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's plan to privatize the giant postal system will not resolve Japan's ballooning fiscal debt, which is hampering plans to create a smaller government, according to outspoken critic Yasuyo Yamazaki.
The public debt grows when the government builds public works because it uses the post office to buy the government bonds needed to finance them. Many of the projects, including numerous dams and bridges, have been criticized as unnecessary.
Koizumi's stated purpose for privatizing the postal system is to reduce government spending. There are more people working for the post office than for the Self-Defense Forces, economists say.