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Japan: Twenty Years Later

By Anonymous

From The Times: Japan pledges to end economic spiral (ht Jonathan)

Japan?s four-month-old Government ... today vowed to enlarge the economy by 150 trillion yen (£1 trillion) ...

The Democratic Party of Japan said that the scheme would deliver annual real GDP growth of at least 2 per cent between now and 2020 and ... is thought to be an attempt by the Government to quash rising domestic fears over the country?s gargantuan mound of public debt. The debt equates to about 180 per cent of GDP and will probably hit 200 per cent in the wake of the record budget announced last week.

Halfway through the Government?s ten-year plan, Japan's debt relative to GDP may rise to 246 per cent, according to analysts from the International Monetary Fund.
...
Since its property bubble burst 20 years ago, Japan has borrowed heavily to stimulate the economy and recent years have seen the level of debt spiral wildly.

Talk about a high level of debt to GDP.

Full post as published by Calculated Risk on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).