October 27th, 2023
UK’s turmoil during Truss’s administration and lesson learned for Japan’s fiscal sustainability
In Japan, as the budget for defense and spending on countermeasures towards the declining birthrate increase even more, the deterioration of fiscal balance has not slowed down. Meanwhile, last fall in the UK, the former Truss administration announced its Growth Plan without any fiscal resource backup and not commissioning forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent fiscal institution of the UK. This raised concerns about the fiscal sustainability of the administration and caused turmoil in the financial market, such as the sharp fall of the Pound and UK bond prices.
In this webinar, we discussed what Japan could learn from this UK’s experience and how it should manage its public finances in the future. The panelists' presentations covered the turmoil over fiscal management during the UK’s former Truss administration and its background, the framework for fiscal discipline, the current situation of Japan’s finances and its surrounding environment, and the challenges facing Japan. During the panel discussion, there was a lively exchange of views on the differences in monetary and fiscal situations between Japan and the UK, challenges and necessary perspectives on fiscal management in Japan, and implication for Japan based on the UK’s experience.
| Date ＆ Time | Friday, October 27, 2023, 14:00-15:30 (Tokyo), 6:00-7:30 (UK) |
|---|---|
| Host | IIMA |
| Event Style | Virtual Event via Zoom |
| Language | Japanese (Simultaneous English translation available) |
| Progress | Lecture and Panel Discussion |
Panelists (in alphabetical order)
Sayuri Ito Presentation Slides
Executive Research Fellow, Economic Research Department, NLI Research Institute
Sayuri Ito received her master’s degree at the Graduate School of Commerce of Waseda University in 2005.
She specializes in European economy. Served as researcher at the Industrial Bank of Japan (currently, Mizuho Financial Group) before conducting research at NLI Research Institute (2001-present). She has also served as lecturer at the Faculty of Commerce of Waseda University, research committee member at the 21st Century Public Policy Institute (Keidanren). She is known for her contributions and appearances on media. Her publications include EU to atarashii kokusaichitsujo (EU and the new international order, co-authored).
Noriyuki Yanagawa
Professor, Faculty of Economics of Graduate School of Economics at the University of Tokyo
Noriyuki Yanagawa received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo. After serving as Associate Professor at Keio University, joined the Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo as Associate Professor in 1996. Has been Professor in 2011. He also serves as an expert member of Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, Japanese Government, Member of Council for the Realization of a New Form of Capitalism, Chief of Center for Real Estate Innovation (CREI), the University of Tokyo．
Moderator
Hiroshi Watanabe
Pressident, IIMA
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Hiroshi Watanabe graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law in 1972 and entered the Japanese Ministry of Finance (JMOF) in the same year. He occupied various senior positions in the Tax Bureau, the International Bureau, and others at the JMOF before serving as Vice-Minister of Finance for International Affairs. After retiring from the JMOF in 2007, he became a Professor at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School, Deputy Governor of Japan Finance Corporation (JFC), and President of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) from 2013 to 2016. Since October 2016, he has been President of the IIMA.