Japan Budget Impasse May Mean Early Election for Kan
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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s inability to break a stalemate over budget legislation threatens to make him the fifth straight premier to last no more than a year and end efforts to rein in the world’s largest public debt.
Kan has been unable to persuade opposition lawmakers to agree on financing bills for his record 92.4 trillion yen ($1.1 trillion) budget that begins in April, 44.3 trillion yen of which must be funded by government bonds. Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda last week said Japan’s economy faces “the risk of economic slowdown” if parliament fails to move.