Japan's looming debt nightmare won't fix itself
Given that its long-term potential real GDP growth is no more than 1 percent, Japan needs to rein in its ballooning national debt through spending cuts or tax hikes.
The government will start working on a new fiscal rehabilitation plan this month after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gutted the previous one by pausing the doubling of the consumption tax last year, sources close to the matter said. The plan will again put emphasis on ...
Central government tax revenue may reach its highest level in 17 years in fiscal 2014 on the back of the April 1 consumption tax hike and growth in corporate and individual income tax receipts, Finance Ministry officials said. Tax revenue is estimated to total around ...
Retirees swell national debt treating clinics as clubs
Kaoru Ishiyama gets to an orthopedic clinic in Kawasaki early so he can chat with about 20 other retirees while they wait outside for it to open, each sitting on folding chairs brought from home. "I come six times a week to have a doctor ...
Japan to miss 2020 budget surplus goal regardless of sales tax hikes
Japan is unlikely to meet its international commitment to achieve a government budget surplus by fiscal 2020, even if it proceeds with another consumption tax increase, sources said Saturday. There is likely to be an ¥11 trillion deficit in the primary balance in fiscal 2020 ...
