June 8, 2022

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The Cabinet of the Prime Minister Kishida Fumio-led government on June 7 approved the basic policy on economic and fiscal management for 2023 (known as the “big-boned policy”).

The “big-boned policy” serves as a beacon for the government in its budgeting process. Unlike the previous one, the fiscal 2023 policy emphasizes the need for Japan’s military buildup in line with the demands of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Referring to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, China’s threat in the Indo-Pacific region, and the Taiwan issue, the “big-boned policy” for the first time calls for “strengthening Japan’s defense capability drastically within five years.”

In addition, it states that NATO members promise to meet a goal to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense and that Japan will also complete the 2%-of-GDP target, which needs to increase the military budget by about six trillion yen from the current level. However, the “big-boned policy” provides no explanation about ways to finance such a huge military expenditure.

The basic policy in a footnote points out that Germany will revise its constitution, the “Basic Law”, to enable the government to increase its borrowing in order to establish a fund that covers the nation’s military spending. This description may be related to former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s claim that Japan should issue government bonds to secure financial resources for military buildup. In Japan, the issuance of national bonds for the purpose of funding military spending is prohibited under the law. It is unacceptable for the government’s financial policy to even consider such an illegal move.

The “big-boned policy” indicates a position of following the Abe government’s economic policy dubbed “Abenomics” by stating that a bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy, and a growth strategy encouraging private investments will continuously be promoted in unison, and that the 2% inflation target will be realized in a sustainable and steady manner. Furthermore, it shows its intent to continue the Abe government policy line of cutting back on social welfare services.

The urgent need is to change the government economic and fiscal policies to ones that truly support the general public which is currently heavily affected by the pandemic and skyrocketing prices.

Past related article:
> Taking advantage of Ukraine crisis, LDP seeks to double military spending to more than 2% of GDP [May 2. 2022]