The government endorsed fiscal spending guidelines Friday for the three-year period starting next fiscal year, capping general-account expenditures at ¥71 trillion, excluding debt-servicing costs, the same as fiscal 2012.
The so-called medium-term fiscal framework, approved by the Cabinet, also said the government will retain for fiscal 2013 starting in April an annual cap on new bond issuances at around ¥44 trillion in the hope of achieving fiscal soundness.
Based on the assumption that the spending cap will be carried out, the government released an estimate that Japan will meet its self-imposed goal of halving its primary budget deficit in fiscal 2015, the year when the sales tax will rise to 10 percent.