Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, 77, has been admitted to hospital for high blood pressure and exhaustion following work on the government’s budget, a Finance Ministry official said.
Fujii will be hospitalized for about 10 days, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He will still attend Cabinet meetings scheduled for Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, the person said.
The hospitalization follows weeks of deliberations over the first budget proposed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s administration since it took office in September. The Democratic Party of Japan-led government was forced to pare back some of its campaign pledges to prevent an increase in debt issuance that risked swelling the nation’s borrowing costs.
“This won’t have any impact on the economy or markets,” given that the budget has now been released and that traders aren’t on alert for intervention in the currency market, said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo. Concerns about a soaring yen have eased following the currency’s retreat in the past month; the Finance Ministry oversees exchange-rate policy.
Retirement Postponed
Fujii was asked by Hatoyama to postpone retirement and run in the August election that brought the DPJ to power for the first time. Fujii previously headed the Finance Ministry in 1993 and is a former budget examiner at the agency.
“If Fujii isn’t capable of carrying out his job, it will be clear that there’s a lack of talent” in the ruling party because he is one of few lawmakers who has experience at the ministry, Morita said.
The hospitalization is the latest blow to Hatoyama after his poll numbers tumbled as he backtracked on some campaign pledges and concerns about the durability of an economic recovery deepened. Hatoyama’s Cabinet had an approval rating of 50 percent in a Dec. 25-27 poll by Nikkei Inc. and TV Tokyo Corp., compared with 75 percent backing in mid-September.
Hatoyama unveiled a record budget of 92.3 trillion yen ($1 trillion) on Dec. 25. The proposal said the government will sell 44 trillion yen of new bonds, upholding Hatoyama’s pledge to keep the amount the same as that of the previous administration.
In the course of compiling the budget, Fujii urged ministers to restrain outlays after their requests amounted to an unprecedented 95 trillion yen. Fujii said the government must keep its promise of containing bond sales around 44 trillion yen to contain the world’s largest public debt burden -- even after Hatoyama indicated he wouldn’t strictly adhere to the cap should more spending be necessary.
Hatoyama abandoned plans to end a provisional gasoline tax, securing about 2.5 trillion yen for the budget.
Japan’s parliament must approve the budget for it to take effect as laid out for the fiscal year starting April 1. Hatoyama’s party has a majority in the lower house, and his two coalition partners in the upper body have backed the proposed budget.
--Editors: Lily Nonomiya, Chris Anstey
To contact the reporters on this story: Kyoko Shimodoi in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-3142 or kshimodoi@bloomberg.net; Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-2158 or tfujioka1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Anstey at +81-3-3201-7553 or canstey@bloomberg.net
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Fujii will be hospitalized for about 10 days, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He will still attend Cabinet meetings scheduled for Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, the person said.
The hospitalization follows weeks of deliberations over the first budget proposed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s administration since it took office in September. The Democratic Party of Japan-led government was forced to pare back some of its campaign pledges to prevent an increase in debt issuance that risked swelling the nation’s borrowing costs.
“This won’t have any impact on the economy or markets,” given that the budget has now been released and that traders aren’t on alert for intervention in the currency market, said Kyohei Morita, chief economist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo. Concerns about a soaring yen have eased following the currency’s retreat in the past month; the Finance Ministry oversees exchange-rate policy.
Retirement Postponed
Fujii was asked by Hatoyama to postpone retirement and run in the August election that brought the DPJ to power for the first time. Fujii previously headed the Finance Ministry in 1993 and is a former budget examiner at the agency.
“If Fujii isn’t capable of carrying out his job, it will be clear that there’s a lack of talent” in the ruling party because he is one of few lawmakers who has experience at the ministry, Morita said.
The hospitalization is the latest blow to Hatoyama after his poll numbers tumbled as he backtracked on some campaign pledges and concerns about the durability of an economic recovery deepened. Hatoyama’s Cabinet had an approval rating of 50 percent in a Dec. 25-27 poll by Nikkei Inc. and TV Tokyo Corp., compared with 75 percent backing in mid-September.
Hatoyama unveiled a record budget of 92.3 trillion yen ($1 trillion) on Dec. 25. The proposal said the government will sell 44 trillion yen of new bonds, upholding Hatoyama’s pledge to keep the amount the same as that of the previous administration.
In the course of compiling the budget, Fujii urged ministers to restrain outlays after their requests amounted to an unprecedented 95 trillion yen. Fujii said the government must keep its promise of containing bond sales around 44 trillion yen to contain the world’s largest public debt burden -- even after Hatoyama indicated he wouldn’t strictly adhere to the cap should more spending be necessary.
Hatoyama abandoned plans to end a provisional gasoline tax, securing about 2.5 trillion yen for the budget.
Japan’s parliament must approve the budget for it to take effect as laid out for the fiscal year starting April 1. Hatoyama’s party has a majority in the lower house, and his two coalition partners in the upper body have backed the proposed budget.
--Editors: Lily Nonomiya, Chris Anstey
To contact the reporters on this story: Kyoko Shimodoi in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-3142 or kshimodoi@bloomberg.net; Toru Fujioka in Tokyo at +81-3-3201-2158 or tfujioka1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Anstey at +81-3-3201-7553 or canstey@bloomberg.net
JPY%
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