Posts Ministry drafts proposal for planned postal firm
The posts ministry has drafted a proposal for a new public corporation slated to take over the state-run postal services in 2003 in which it urges the new entity to partially liberalize the mail service, ministry officials said Friday.
However, the draft proposal also says the new corporation should fall under the control of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications in running its overall operations, they said.
According to the draft proposal, the three postal service operations — mail, postal savings and insurance — would remain under the control of the new entity as they are now under the ministry.
The posts ministry plans to finalize the proposal by the end of the year after consulting with experts in and outside the ministry, the officials said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has long demanded the state-run postal services be privatized, has instructed Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Toranosuke Katayama to study measures to fully liberalize the mail service and allow the Financial Services Agency to conduct inspections of the new entity, they said.
Koizumi’s instruction is likely to draw strong opposition from some lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who have special interests in the postal service sector.
The ministry’s draft proposal said the planned new corporation should liberalize some of its mail service operations, such as the delivery of postcards and letters, in a step-by-step manner while maintaining unified nationwide mail service. The ministry’s Postal Services Agency currently has a monopoly on mail delivery services.
As for postal savings and insurance services, the ministry will continue to guarantee payments on behalf of the new corporation, the proposal said.
The new entity would extend loans to local governments as does presently, but not to private companies, and would manage funds through trust banks and investment advisory firms.
Regarding the management structure, the posts minister would have the power to appoint or dismiss the head of the new corporation.
The new corporation is expected to publish financial statements calculated in accordance with mark-to-market accounting rules and pay taxes, according to the proposal.
