The Democratic Party of Japan and the two main opposition parties — the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito — on Tuesday agreed on the length of the period to redeem bonds issued to pay for reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents. Under the agreement, the bonds will be redeemed over 25 years. This means that the burden from tax increases to repay the bonds will be drawn out over 25 years.
As a result of the agreement, the LDP and Komeito will cooperate with the DPJ in Diet deliberations on the third supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to finance the reconstruction and related bills. Reconstruction in areas hit by the triple disasters is not making rapid progress. With the rigors of winter approaching, all political parties should accelerate necessary Diet deliberations.
At first Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda planned to redeem the bonds in 10 years so that the financial burden for the reconstruction would not be passed on to future generations. Later, the DPJ expressed its readiness to prolong the redemption period to 15 years in response to Komeito's call for a 15-to-20-year period.