An article by the vice finance minister, published in the latest issue of a monthly magazine, is causing a stir among ruling party members as it criticizes financial policy debates for the upcoming lower house election and last month's Liberal Democratic Party presidential election as "dole-out competitions."
Top Finance Ministry bureaucrat Koji Yano's opinion piece was published on Friday in Bungei Shunju magazine.
Although Prime Minister Fumio Kishida remained calm, some ruling party politicians are expressing displeasure at the unconventional move in the run-up to the lower house election.
"In a debate, there can obviously be various thoughts and opinions. Once the direction is set, we need firm cooperation," Kishida said during a Fuji Television program Sunday.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also played down the significance of the article during a Monday press conference, saying the article was "an expression of personal opinion on general policy issues toward fiscal soundness."
The Kishida Cabinet, which was formed on Oct. 4, calls for "necessary fiscal spending without hesitation" in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and it intends to provide benefits to businesses and households raising children in economic measures set to be compiled after the lower house election. Yano's article is seen as throwing cold water on these policies.
In the article, Yano likened Japan's fiscal situation to "the Titanic rushing toward an iceberg," and warned of future financial collapse. Touching on the "economic measures worth tens of trillions of yen" advocated by Kishida during the LDP presidential race, Yano said, "All we hear is talk as if there are inexhaustible supplies of money in the national treasury."
Yano became the first Hitotsubashi University graduate to be appointed vice finance minister in July, after serving as director general of both the Tax Bureau and the Budget Bureau. He was also a secretary to former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga from 2012 through 2015 when Suga was the chief cabinet secretary. Yano is known as one of the strictest advocates of fiscal reconstruction in the ministry, and described as someone who can frankly speak out even against politicians.
-- Controversy
"It's a very rude thing to say," said LDP Policy Research Council Chairperson Sanae Takaichi about the article during an NHK program Sunday. "If we don't extend help to people who are in real need for being obsessed with the basic financial balance, that would be the most ridiculous thing."
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who promoted aggressive fiscal policies in his administration, also reportedly told people around him that "the article was wrong."
Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the LDP's junior coalition partner Komeito, expressed understanding by saying, "It's an insight from the perspective of maintaining public finances." However, he defended the party's lower house election pledge to provide 100,000 yen in benefits to all children up to the age of third-year high school students, saying, "We are taking into consideration the constraints in financial resources."
Reactions within the Finance Ministry have been mixed. Some welcomed the article and praised Yano for putting forward his name and making an open appeal about the severe financial situation. Others questioned his move, with one official saying, "Why would he do such an act that could cause confusion before the lower house election?"
A senior LDP official said: "This is something that should be discussed within the government. Sending a message to the outside world will invite questions about the administration's ability to govern. It goes beyond the purview of a bureaucrat."
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