The figure supplied by the finance ministry of ¥1.008 quadrillion, or a
thousand trillion by the end of June amounts to about £6.71 trillion at current
exchange rates. By comparison, Britain's national debt is £1.2 trillion.
Tokyo has the dubious distinction of having, proportionately, the biggest
debt pile among industrialised nations, more than twice the size of its economy.
The lion's share of that debt is from long- and short-term Japanese
government bonds, as well as other borrowing. The staggering figure, about 1.7pc higher than the previous quarter, comes a
day after Japan pledged to slash its budget and get spending under control.
Japan has not faced a public debt crisis like the kind seen across the
debt-riddled eurozone, largely because most of its low-interest debt is held
domestically rather than by international creditors. But the International Monetary Fund and others have issued warnings about
Tokyo's ever-increasing borrowing, after a series of sovereign credit rating
downgrades in recent years. This week, the IMF called on Japan to adopt a "credible" fiscal plan to
repair its books, including raising sales taxes to generate new revenue. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is mulling whether to go ahead with a
series of sales tax rises that would double the rate to 10 percent by 2015, a
key source of new income but one that some fear would stall his economy-boosting
plan dubbed "Abenomics". 
Access Investments-Building Awareness - European Union-ROMANIA
Monday, August 12, 2013
The figure supplied by the finance ministry of ¥1.008 quadrillion, or a
thousand trillion by the end of June amounts to about £6.71 trillion at current
exchange rates. By comparison, Britain's national debt is £1.2 trillion.
Tokyo has the dubious distinction of having, proportionately, the biggest
debt pile among industrialised nations, more than twice the size of its economy.
The lion's share of that debt is from long- and short-term Japanese
government bonds, as well as other borrowing. The staggering figure, about 1.7pc higher than the previous quarter, comes a
day after Japan pledged to slash its budget and get spending under control.
Japan has not faced a public debt crisis like the kind seen across the
debt-riddled eurozone, largely because most of its low-interest debt is held
domestically rather than by international creditors. But the International Monetary Fund and others have issued warnings about
Tokyo's ever-increasing borrowing, after a series of sovereign credit rating
downgrades in recent years. This week, the IMF called on Japan to adopt a "credible" fiscal plan to
repair its books, including raising sales taxes to generate new revenue. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is mulling whether to go ahead with a
series of sales tax rises that would double the rate to 10 percent by 2015, a
key source of new income but one that some fear would stall his economy-boosting
plan dubbed "Abenomics". 
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After a prolonged spell of misery in Greece it seemed there might finally be cause for quiet cheers when official figures on Monday morning showed the recession eased in the second quarter.
However Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics, has warned the so-called Troika's forecasts still look too optimistic, and Greece is to need another major debt restructuring.
He writes:
While the recession is easing, the improvement in the economic situation has been much less pronounced than the business surveys had suggested.
Looking further ahead, we are still sceptical that the economy will experience a full-blown economic recovery next year, as assumed in the forecasts which underpin the Greek adjustment programme. Despite their recapitalisation, banks still appear to be unwilling or unable to lend. Meanwhile, there is still little sign of any improvement in the labour market.
What’s more, due to the Government’s wafer-thin majority, there is a risk that it may not be able to comply fully with future conditions of its bail-out.
For now, then, we still think that the economy will contract by about 2% next year, implying that Greece will need further loans to fully cover its financing needs.
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