Characteristics of JCP political funds position

The Public Management Ministry published political funds balance sheets
for the year 2000 at the central level, in a gazette dated September 14.

Ueda Hitoshi, Japanese Communist Party Finance and Management Bureau
director, told Akahata on September 14 the characteristics of JCP the
political funds position.

Hallmark of JCP political funds

The balance sheet of the JCP Central Committee for fiscal year 2000 shows
a total revenue of 32.8 billion yen and a total expenditure of 34.0 billion
yen (See table).

The major characteristics are: On the income side, the JCP accepted
neither political donations from corporations or organizations nor
government political subsidies; its finance is based exclusively on party
dues, income from publications of newspapers and periodicals, and personal
donations from party members and supporters.

A point to note is that publication of the newspaper Akahata and other
JCP periodicals is the main item of JCP fund raising activity, as indicated
by its percentage, 85 percent to the revenue and 61.3 percent to the
expenditure. This is a reflection that the JCP activity is combined with
people at the grassroots through Akahata. Such a characteristic is absent in
other political parties.

Investments for the future

Unusually with the JCP, both revenue and expenditure increased in FY
2000. The revenue showed an 8.4 percent increase over the year before, and
the expenditure was up by 13.5 percent. The expenditure exceeded the revenue
by 1.2 billion yen.

The main reasons for the increase in revenue and expenditure are: A
change in Akahata to color printing and the consequential raise in charges
to the readers, campaigns for the House of Representatives general election
(June 2000), rebuilding the JCP office building and the fund raising drive
for this task by collecting donations.

The excess of expenditure over revenue by 1.2 billion yen has resulted in
the decline of the money carried forward. This is mainly because the
progress of the construction work of the JCP building required the savings
to be used for construction.