TOKYO (MNI) – The Japanese parliament on Friday enacted legislation
that will allow the government to issue debt to finance spending in
the current fiscal year that began on April 1, averting a suspension of
debt issuance next month and onward.
Following approval at the lower house, the opposition-controlled
upper house approved the bill after the two main opposition parties
agreed to endorse it during the current extraordinary Diet session.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said he will dissolve the lower
house of parliament on Friday and call a snap election if the opposition
camp agrees to his plan to reduce the number of lower house lawmakers,
which he said is necessary before asking the public to bear higher costs
of living arising from a planned sales tax hike.
The Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito said they will endorse
it early next year when the Diet returns for a 150-day ordinary session,
setting the stage for general elections on Dec. 16.
Amid falling public support for the Noda government, the opposition
parties have been calling on the prime minister to dissolve the lower
house and call a snap election.
Finance Minister Koriki Jojima has warned that the government will
be forced to suspend issuance of bonds in December if parliament does
not approve the bill by end-November.
In the previous Diet session, opposition parties refused to debate
the bill that would allow JGB issuance for financing a large deficit in
the Y90.3 trillion budget for the current fiscal year that began on
April 1.
The Ministry of Finance has said it was trimming fiscal spending by
Y3 trillion in September and will cut a further Y1 trillion in each of
October and November, but the government will still run out of money for
fiscal programs — except for essential services — at the end of
November if the debt bill is not enacted by then.
–email: msato@mni-news.com
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