Japan's June-end gov't debt spikes to more than 10 trln USD

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) in Japan said Wednesday that the central government's debt as of the end of June had climbed in the past three months, underscoring the government's increasing difficulties in financing the nation's mounting demographic problem.

The ministry said that the central government's debt had climbed by 4.10 trillion yen (40.41 billion U.S. dollars) from three months ago, to stand at 1,053.47 trillion yen (10.38 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of June.

The mounting debt, at more than 240 percent of the national gross domestic product and the largest in the industrialized world, is partly attributable to costs related to the nation's rapidly aging population and financing the social security costs involved.

The ministry said that the debt is comprised of government bonds, financing bills and short-term government notes, as well as borrowing from financial institutions.

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month unrolling a hefty stimulus plan to the tune of 28.1 trillion yen as part of the latest installment of his ailing "Abenomics" economic policy mix, lacks the equivocal allocations and long-term vision necessary to fundamentally kick-start the nation's flagging economy, economists have said.

Along with Abe opting to further delay a scheduled tax hike for a third time to 2019, the planned budgetary expenditure will almost certainly further upset the government's balance sheet, and market confidence in the world's third-largest economy could continue to be tremulous.

The government is working to maintain Japan's fiscal consolidation goal of turning the primary balance into a surplus by fiscal 2020, yet this target has been deemed unattainable according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund. Endit