Draft budget for FY 2002 to squeeze livelihoods

Arguing that the budget is for Japan's 'reform,' the Koizumi Cabinet has
announced its first draft budget for April 2002-March 2003.

The 81.2 trillion yen budget plan drafted on December 20 by the Finance
Ministry gives priority to major public works projects, while cutting social
services.

In a published statement Fudesaka Hideyo, Japanese Communist Party
Economic Policy Commission chair criticized the draft budget, saying, "The
draft budget is compiled under the same policy as that of successive Liberal
Democratic Party governments. If enacted, it will only help aggravate the
people's living conditions."

The size of the FY 2002 draft budget is 1.7% smaller than that of FY 2001
budget. As part of the general account for policy implementation, of the one
trillion yen budget for welfare, which has been estimated to increase in FY
2002 based on due procedures, the draft calls for a 300 billion yen cut.

In particular, the medical care-related budget is cut by 280 billion yen,
which will impose heavier burden on patients and elderly people. Workers
will have to pay 30% of their medical charges instead of the current 20%.

Contrary to this, the draft proposes maintaining major items of public
works projects, such as the construction of the New Kansai International
Airport (second term), expressways, and useless dams. The draft budget for
these items decreased by 10.7% from last year, due partly to the reduction
of land prices and the introduction of the Private Fund Investment System.

Contrary to the Koizumi Cabinet's argument that the major public works
budget is being cut by one trillion yen, this year's draft on the second
supplementary government budget approved on the same day calls for allotting
2.5 trillion yen for public works projects.

The military budget, up 600 million yen, will reach 4 trillion 956
billion yen, including the cost for introducing a refueling aircraft costing
24.1 billion yen. This is contrary to Koizumi's promise that there should be
no exceptions in budget cuts.

While Koizumi's public pledge of not issuing more than 30 trillion yen in
national bonds seems to be met, the dependency of the next year's budget on
the state's red bonds will be 36.9% compared to 34.3% this year.

With this, the state's total account of state loans will reach as much as
538 trillion yen, and together with those of local governments, it will
total 693 trillion yen, up 25 trillion yen. This means a 5.5 million yen
debt burden for each citizen.

In his statement on the ministry budget draft, JCP Fudesaka said as follows:

Japan's economy is facing a simultaneous vicious cycle of the recession
and deflation, an unprecedented critical crisis.

The Koizumi Cabinet is responsible for this because of its
'restructuring' policy which helped increase corporate bankruptcies and
joblesses, and subsequent drops in people's incomes and consumption.

In complete neglect of such a grave situation, the Finance Ministry in
the draft FY 2002 budget calls for continuing major public construction
works projects, with some new steps to support major corporations, while
imposing great pains on the people.

The JCP maintains that taxpayers money should be used to encourage the
people's living conditions that are worsening under the serious recession.
The Koizumi Cabinet must immediately stop pushing ahead with the policy of
corporate bankruptcies, personnel reduction, and cuts in social welfare.

The JCP will make every effort to remake the government budget so that it
will help end Japan's long and critical crisis. (end)