ID :
206882
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 16:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/206882
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Gov't eying surplus in fiscal loan account for reconstruction work
TOKYO, Sept. 13 Kyodo -
The government is planning to tap surplus funds estimated to total more than 1 trillion yen in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs as part of non-tax sources to finance work to reconstruct areas hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The surplus is generated when interest rates on loans to governmental financial institutions and local governments are higher than those at which funds for such loans were raised.
While surplus funds in the account are projected at 700 billion yen for fiscal 2011 to March 31, 2012, the government is likely to spend much more than 1 trillion yen for post-disaster reconstruction work by diverting the funds including those expected to be generated in the following years, the sources said.
The government is seeking non-tax funding resources to reduce tax increases estimated at 13 trillion yen for reconstruction efforts.
In addition to surplus funds in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs, the government is set to secure more than 50 billion yen by scaling down projects under the special account for energy measures while considering selling part of the shares it owns in Japan Post Holdings Co. and Japan Tobacco Inc.
The government has already concluded it is possible to set aside some 3 trillion yen through such measures as ending child allowances and selling shareholdings in Tokyo Metro Co.
''We can secure several trillion yen more,'' Finance Minister Jun Azumi said in reference to the government's plan to release, possibly by the end of this week, a list of spending cuts and non-tax revenues to obtain funds for reconstruction work.
Several hundred billion yen is expected to be generated per year as surplus funds in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs in fiscal 2012 and some years following.
The government expects to secure 6 trillion yen or so by selling shares in Japan Post Holdings. But the sale of Japan Post shares, all of which are currently owned by the government, requires the Diet's passage of a postal reform bill opposed by the opposition bloc.
Holding 50 percent of outstanding Japan Tobacco shares, the government sees lower barriers against selling part of them, a move estimated to bring in around 600 billion yen.
Azumi, meanwhile, told a press conference that using an envisioned levy on carbon emissions may be ''one option'' to finance post-disaster reconstruction work, but senior vice finance minister Fumihiko Igarashi said later that the idea is not being considered inside a work team he is part of to discuss the tax issue.
''As a mental exercise we have thought about setting a surtax on an indirect tax, such as the gasoline tax...but we have not considered using an environment tax to finance reconstruction,'' Igarashi said, stressing that the levy would be introduced as a tax for specific purposes.
Igarashi also said that there may have been some misunderstanding during the exchanges between Azumi and the reporter who asked the question about the use of an environment tax.
The government has decided to introduce an environment tax to combat global warming in its tax reform plans for fiscal 2011 through next March, but parliamentary discussions on it have yet to reach a conclusion in the face of resistance from opposition parties.
The levy on carbon dioxide emissions would come in the form of price hikes for such fossil fuels as coal, natural gas and crude oil.
The government is planning to tap surplus funds estimated to total more than 1 trillion yen in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs as part of non-tax sources to finance work to reconstruct areas hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The surplus is generated when interest rates on loans to governmental financial institutions and local governments are higher than those at which funds for such loans were raised.
While surplus funds in the account are projected at 700 billion yen for fiscal 2011 to March 31, 2012, the government is likely to spend much more than 1 trillion yen for post-disaster reconstruction work by diverting the funds including those expected to be generated in the following years, the sources said.
The government is seeking non-tax funding resources to reduce tax increases estimated at 13 trillion yen for reconstruction efforts.
In addition to surplus funds in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs, the government is set to secure more than 50 billion yen by scaling down projects under the special account for energy measures while considering selling part of the shares it owns in Japan Post Holdings Co. and Japan Tobacco Inc.
The government has already concluded it is possible to set aside some 3 trillion yen through such measures as ending child allowances and selling shareholdings in Tokyo Metro Co.
''We can secure several trillion yen more,'' Finance Minister Jun Azumi said in reference to the government's plan to release, possibly by the end of this week, a list of spending cuts and non-tax revenues to obtain funds for reconstruction work.
Several hundred billion yen is expected to be generated per year as surplus funds in the special account for fiscal investment and loan programs in fiscal 2012 and some years following.
The government expects to secure 6 trillion yen or so by selling shares in Japan Post Holdings. But the sale of Japan Post shares, all of which are currently owned by the government, requires the Diet's passage of a postal reform bill opposed by the opposition bloc.
Holding 50 percent of outstanding Japan Tobacco shares, the government sees lower barriers against selling part of them, a move estimated to bring in around 600 billion yen.
Azumi, meanwhile, told a press conference that using an envisioned levy on carbon emissions may be ''one option'' to finance post-disaster reconstruction work, but senior vice finance minister Fumihiko Igarashi said later that the idea is not being considered inside a work team he is part of to discuss the tax issue.
''As a mental exercise we have thought about setting a surtax on an indirect tax, such as the gasoline tax...but we have not considered using an environment tax to finance reconstruction,'' Igarashi said, stressing that the levy would be introduced as a tax for specific purposes.
Igarashi also said that there may have been some misunderstanding during the exchanges between Azumi and the reporter who asked the question about the use of an environment tax.
The government has decided to introduce an environment tax to combat global warming in its tax reform plans for fiscal 2011 through next March, but parliamentary discussions on it have yet to reach a conclusion in the face of resistance from opposition parties.
The levy on carbon dioxide emissions would come in the form of price hikes for such fossil fuels as coal, natural gas and crude oil.
