Japanese government debt hits record high

　　The latest data released by the Ministry of Finance of Japan shows that as of the end of March this year, the balance of long-term debt of the Japanese government exceeded the trillion yen mark for the first time, reaching 1,017.1 trillion yen (about 53.6 trillion yuan), an increase of 18 consecutive years.

Total government debt, including treasury bonds, financing, and government short-term securities, was 1,241.3 trillion yen, an increase of 24.8 trillion yen over the same period last year, hitting a record high for the sixth consecutive year. government debt.

　　Rising social security costs and huge fiscal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are the two main reasons for the continued growth of total government debt.

Since the 1990s, Japan's economy has continued to slump, and tax revenue, the main source of fiscal revenue, has not increased significantly for a long time.

At the same time, Japan's declining birthrate and aging trend continue to intensify.

In April, data released by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that Japan's aging rate reached 28.9%, a record high.

The proportion of social security expenses related to the payment of pensions, medical care, etc. in Japan's fiscal expenditure is increasing.

　　In response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Japanese government created an epidemic reserve fund of up to 9.65 trillion yen in the 2020 supplementary budget.

The total amount of epidemic reserves from 2020 to 2022 is close to 20 trillion yen, which has also become an important reason for the rising total government debt.

　　As the balance of Japan's government debt continues to rise, the fiscal dependence on national debt continues to increase.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance of Japan, Japan's national debt dependence has remained at a high of 40% in recent years, and even reached 75% in 2020.

The severe fiscal situation has become one of the biggest risk factors for Japan's economic development.

Earlier this year, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki pointed out that compared with 40 years ago, the size of Japan's national debt has increased by more than 10 times.

During the same period, Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) grew only 1.9 times, and its fiscal situation deteriorated far faster than economic growth.

According to the website of Japan's Ministry of Finance, Japan's total government debt is currently 2.5 times the country's GDP.

　　Recently, international commodity prices have continued to rise, and the global supply chain has become more tense.

At the same time, with the recent widening of the interest rate gap between the US dollar and the yen, the yen has depreciated sharply.

Under the influence of multiple factors, a wide range of domestic prices have risen in Japan.

In order to alleviate the impact of rising prices on economic recovery, the Japanese government's pattern of relying on bond issuance to increase fiscal spending to stimulate the economy may be unlikely to change in the short term.

　　Japanese public opinion generally believes that the scale of Japanese government debt will further expand in the absence of endogenous momentum for economic development and the intensifying trend of low birthrates and aging.

The deteriorating fiscal situation will affect the long-term development of Japan's economy and society.

　　(Tokyo Newspaper)