Japan's Takaichi says fiscal policy not 'reckless'

TOKYO

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Feb. 20 that her fiscal policies will not be "reckless", as investors worry that her efforts to boost growth and help consumers with inflation will swell the country's debts.

"We are not going to pursue a reckless fiscal policy that would undermine the market's confidence," Takaichi told parliament following her election landslide on Feb. 8.

"We will keep the growth rate of outstanding debt within the range of the economic growth rate and steadily bring down the government debt-to-GDP ratio," she said in a policy address.

Takaichi said she wanted to make "the Japanese archipelago strong and prosperous".

"I will keep hitting that growth switch — again and again and again — pushing it as much as I possibly can," she said.

She pledged to promote domestic investment in "risk management" areas such as energy, health, infrastructure and cyber security.

In addition, she would focus on "growth" areas such as AI, chips, ship-building, that should "lead to Japan's growth by providing products, services and infrastructure that serve to solve challenges the world shares at home and abroad."

Japanese inflation slowed in January, government data showed on Feb. 20, in welcome news for Takaichi.

Excluding fresh food, "core" consumer prices rose 2 percent year-on-year, down from a 2.4 percent increase in December.

A poll by the Yomiuri newspaper published on Feb. 20 put support for Takaichi's cabinet at 73 percent, up six percentage points and her highest yet.