Japan’s national debt to exceed 1,000tr yen

TOKYO – The Japanese government’s debt is expected to reach just over 1,167 trillion yen ($9.469 trillion) in the 2015 fiscal year, according to data released by Japan’s finance ministry on Tuesday.

This translates to about 8.3 million yen per Japanese citizen.

The ministry said overall public debt is likely to reach the projected amount despite a reduction of almost 3 trillion yen during the June to September period.

The 2015 fiscal year in Japan lasts from April 1 this year to March 31, 2016.

The ministry data comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has pushed back plans for additional sales tax hikes to 2017. In 2014, the government raised taxes by 3 percentage points to 8 percent.

By Kim Ji-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)