Japan Finances

Reforming Japan's Public Finance Structure By the Year 2003
Prime Minister Calls for Cooperation in Implementing "Five Principles"

On March 25 [1997] Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, acting in his capacity as Liberal Democratic Party President, attended a combined meeting of the Party's General Council, Policy Deliberation Commission, Sectional Meeting Chairmen, Research Commission Chairmen, Special Committee Chairmen, and Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters Members. There, the Prime Minister set forth "Five Principles" for restructuring the public finance system, appealing for support from the Party. The Five Principles are guidelines which had already been acknowledged by the government and three ruling-coalition parties at a Public Finance Structural Reform Meeting. Among other decisions, an immediate target date of the year 2003 was set for achieving structural reform. The prime minister spoke strongly of the necessity of carrying out public finance structure reform. While acknowledging that "these reforms will bring some hardship; without the understanding of the Japanese people, we will not be able to carry them forward," he stressed that "reform is absolutely necessary, and so we cannot waver in our grappling with reform issues, or put off acting until another time out of fear of a degree of pain that will probably ensuer."