Japan moves to cut budget waste

TOKYO:

Japan launched its own version of the US government's infamous cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday in a bid to ease concerns over a $135-billion stimulus package.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged last week huge government spending to boost the economy, insisting it was fiscally responsible despite fears it would worsen the country's colossal debt burden.

"Given the times we live in, fiscal sustainability is paramount... it is vital that the public can see we are consistently working towards it," Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told a press briefing.

Unveiling the initiative she said was referred to as Japan's DOGE, the minister said that "there is high public interest in reducing waste."

Headed by Elon Musk, DOGE in the United States sent teams of tech experts to systematically dismantle and disrupt the nation's more than two million-strong civil service.

The Japanese team, however, will be made up of around 30 working government officials and will not aim to overhaul government organisations, Katayama said.

The Office in Charge of Reviewing Special Tax Measures and Subsidies, as it is formally known, would review programmes with low policy impact, she added.

The initiative is part of a month-old coalition agreement between Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and their junior partner, the Japan Innovation Party.

The office is expected to become fully functional next year, with its impact reflected in the budget for the fiscal year starting from April 2027, according to Katayama.

Takaichi has defended the 21.3-trillion yen stimulus package that her government approved last week as it looks to kickstart growth in the world's number-four economy, ease the pain of inflation for households and restore the ruling party's flagging popularity.

However, expectations that the new premier would embark on a big-spending spree have pushed yields on Japanese government bonds to record highs this week and put pressure on the yen.