Japan Faces Debt Legislation Crisis

Japan’s House of Representatives started deliberations Thursday on a bill to finance the fiscal 2012 budget, with opposition parties putting more pressure on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to dissolve the chamber by the end of this year.

Noda called for the cooperation of the opposition bloc as passage of the bill is considered necessary during the current extraordinary Diet session. There is growing concern that without it the government would run short of funds by late November, exerting a major impact on people’s lives.

“Japan is required to play a role in carrying out politics which can make decisions,” with an eye to the situation in other countries including the United States, which could face fiscal gridlock due to political wrangling, Noda said at a lower house plenary session.

But it remains uncertain whether the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party will cooperate with the government in passing the bill, unless Noda vows to go to the people in December.

The ongoing extraordinary parliamentary session is expected to run through Nov. 30.

Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan plans to pass as early as next Tuesday the bill that would allow the government to finance more than 40 percent of the 90.3 trillion yen budget by the issuance of debt-covering bonds for fiscal year through March.

via Mainichi

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