Japan Presents a Superbad Annual Budget

12月28日付け Wall Street Journal 米国版の p.C8 からの引用です。タイトルは "Japan Presents a Superbad Annual Budget" です。James Simms 記者の記事です。

Japan Presents a Superbad Annual Budget
By James Simms
Japan's $1.1 trillion budget for next year is filled with unwanted superlatives: the nation's largest outlay ever, the worst debt-to-GDP ratio among industrial nations and the second consecutive year that debt issuance will exceed tax revenue.
And those are just the headlines.
The details are even worse. They illustrate the impact of indecision and a loss of political power by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Rather than fundamental reform to Tokyo's notorious inability to spend wisely, the hallmarks of this budget are the administration's scramble to secure revenue and fulfill unrealistic campaign pledges.
Tokyo will raid non-budget accounts and foreign-exchange reserves for $86 billion to fill its revenue shortfall. This isn't sustainable.
With local elections scheduled across Japan in the spring, spending is jumping. Agricultural income subsidies are set to skyrocket more than 40% to $9.5 billion. Child-care subsidies will expand. This effort to lift the nation's falling birth-rate is going to cost Japan $2.4 billion more than it in the current fiscal year ending in March.
Politicians promised to find nearly $110 billion in waste to fund their pledges. Next year's budget identifies only $3.6 billion in such cuts.
There are a few pluses. Tokyo already had decided to cut the country's high corporate tax rates, though it will do so by broadening the tax base.
Among the more unique cutbacks: a $140 billion, 400-year-old-project for levees along urban rivers didn't get funding.
Investors wondering when they will hear of real reform to Japan's finances ought to keep the timeline on that last one in mind.

誠に手抜きのエントリーで申し訳ありません。引用元が Wall Street Journal ですから、かなり右派的なバイアスはあるものと考えるべきですが、それでも、少しは海外からどう見られているのかが分かるような気がします。要するに、ボロクソです。評価されているのは法人税減税くらいのものでしょうか。引用文で青字にした部分ですが、昨年の総選挙で国民が "unrealistic campaign pledges" を見破れなかったのが悪いと批判されているような気がします。たぶん、そうなんでしょう。