Spending by the Japanese government is to increase by about 1.2 percent to ￥102.7 trillion (US$939 billion) in the year starting April, the Japanese Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Outlays on social security would account for about 57 percent of spending outside of debt servicing and transfers to regional governments, the ministry said. In the face of public debt that exceeds 200 percent of GDP, Abe’s administration has been narrowing Japan’s budget deficit and trimming its issuance of new bonds to fund spending. Some economists also cast doubt on whether bond issuance was the right yardstick of progress for righting the nation’s finances. “The focus seems to be on new bond issuance.
