Is Japan the new Greece?
Japanese PM says debt-ridden country must rein in spending
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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan says his country could become the next Greece if it doesn’t reduce its current debt load. Unlike Greece, Japan’s debt is held mostly domestically, which should assure it a greater degree of stability than the nearly-bankrupt Mediterranean nation, but Kan says Japan needs to rein in spending before things spiral further out of control. “It is difficult to sustain a policy that relies too heavily on issuing debt,” he said. “As we have seen with the financial confusion in the European community stemming from Greece, our finances could collapse if trust in national bonds is lost and growing national debt is left alone.” Kan is expected to impose austerity measures in Japan, whose debt, worth 218.6 per cent of its gross domestic product in 2009, is the highest among the world’s industrialized nations.