IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2019-212.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Japan's Public Sector Balance Sheet

Author

Listed:
  • Yugo Koshima

Abstract

This paper compiles and reviews the evolution of Japan’s Public Sector Balance Sheet (PSBS). In the past, large crossholdings of assets and liabilities within the public sector played a role in sustaining a high level of public debt and low interest rates. The Fiscal Investment and Loan Fund (FILF) channeled all postal deposits and pension savings to financing of public sector borrowing. After the FILF refrom in 2000, however, the Post Bank and pension funds shifted their assets to the portfolio investments and are seeking to maximize risk-adjusted returns. This has changed the implications of crossholdings for public debt management. In the future, population aging is expected to add more pressures on the PSBS, which already saw a considerable decrease of net worth over the last three decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Yugo Koshima, 2019. "Japan's Public Sector Balance Sheet," IMF Working Papers 2019/212, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2019/212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=48687
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Takero Doi & Toshihiro Ihori & Kiyoshi Mitsui, 2007. "Sustainability, Debt Management, and Public Debt Policy in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Policy and Management in East Asia, pages 377-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Kenichiro Kashiwase & Mr. Masahiro Nozaki & Kiichi Tokuoka, 2012. "Pension Reforms in Japan," IMF Working Papers 2012/285, International Monetary Fund.
    3. John Hills, 1989. "Counting the family silver: the public sector's balance sheet 1957 to 1987," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 10(2), pages 66-85, May.
    4. Maren Brede & Christian Henn, 2018. "Finland’s Public Sector Balance Sheet: A Novel Approach to Analysis of Public Finance," IMF Working Papers 2018/078, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Koji Nakamura & Tomoyuki Yagi, 2015. "Fiscal Conditions and Long-term Interest Rates," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 15-E-10, Bank of Japan.
    6. Philippe Burger & Krige Siebrits & Estian Calitz, 2016. "Fiscal Consolidation and the Public Sector Balance Sheet in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(4), pages 501-519, December.
    7. Takashi Oshio & Oguro, 2013. "Fiscal Sustainability under an Aging Population in Japan: A Financial Market Perspective," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 9(4), pages 735-750, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shiro Armstrong & Tatsuyoshi Okimoto, 2016. "Fiscal Sustainability in Japan," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 235-243, May.
    2. Ezequiel Cabezon & Christian Henn, 2018. "Counting the Oil Money and the Elderly: Norway's Public Sector Balance Sheet," IMF Working Papers 2018/190, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Lakuma, Corti Paul & Mawejje, Joseph & Lwanga, Musa Mayanja & Munyambonera, Ezra, 2018. "The distributional impacts of fiscal consolidation in Uganda," Research Series 275660, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    4. Magazzino, Cosimo & Brady, Gordon L. & Forte, Francesco, 2019. "A panel data analysis of the fiscal sustainability of G-7 countries," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    5. Imrohoroglu, Selahattin & Sudo, Nao, 2011. "Will a Growth Miracle Reduce Debt in Japan?," Economic Review, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 62(1), pages 44-56, January.
    6. Heller, Peter S., 2015. "The Challenge of an Aged Population: Lessons to be drawn from Japan's Experience," CIS Discussion paper series 651, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Mr. Seyed Reza Yousefi, 2019. "Public Sector Balance Sheet Strength and the Macro Economy," IMF Working Papers 2019/170, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Randall S. Jones & Kohei Fukawa, 2015. "Achieving Fiscal Consolidation while Promoting Social Cohesion in Japan," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1262, OECD Publishing.
    9. Mr. Masahiro Nozaki & Kenichiro Kashiwase & Ikuo Saito, 2014. "Health Spending in Japan: Macro-Fiscal Implications and Reform Options," IMF Working Papers 2014/142, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Kitao, Sagiri, 2015. "Pension reform and individual retirement accounts in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 111-126.
    11. Randall S. Jones & Satoshi Urasawa, 2013. "Restoring Japan's Fiscal Sustainability," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1050, OECD Publishing.
    12. Ms. Elif C Arbatli Saxegaard & Mr. Csaba Feher & Mr. Jack J Ree & Ikuo Saito & Mauricio Soto, 2016. "Automatic Adjustment Mechanisms in Asian Pension Systems?," IMF Working Papers 2016/242, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Christopher Loewald & David Faulkner & Konstantin Makrelov, 2020. "Time consistency and economic growth a case study of south african macroeconomic policy," Working Papers 10421, South African Reserve Bank.
    14. Chen, Shyh-Wei & Wu, An-Chi, 2018. "Is there a bubble component in government debt? New international evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 467-486.
    15. Nozaki, Masahiro & Kashiwase, Kenichiro & Saito, Ikuo, 2017. "Health spending in Japan: Macro-fiscal implications and reform options," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 156-171.
    16. António Afonso & Frederico Silva Leal, 2017. "Sovereign yield spreads in the EMU: crisis and structural determinants," Working Papers Department of Economics 2017/09, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    17. Atkinson, Anthony B., 2015. "Inequality: what can be done?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101810, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Brieuc Monfort, 2015. "Can Increased Public Expenditure Efficiency Contribute to the Consolidation of Public Finances in Japan?," Working Papers halshs-01548620, HAL.
    19. Matteo Ruzzante, 2018. "Financial Crises, Macroeconomic Shocks, and the Government Balance Sheet: A Panel Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2018/093, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Kateřina GAWTHORPE, 2022. "Population ageing and sustainable fiscal policy in Czechia," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 13, pages 81-105, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2019/212. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.