Tag: Japan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a major policy speech to parliament, repeated that Japan’s economic recovery is intact, although recent data shows it might be slowing.

‘As we push for structural reforms, the economy is steadily recovering with the private sector taking the initiative, while personal consumption and capital spending are improving,’ Koizumi said in a speech on the first day of a 53-day extraordinary session.

Koizumi stressed that small- to mid-sized businesses and regional economies still need help to benefit from the recent economic upswing, seen mainly among major firms.

Japan Post had 30 billion yen in hard-to-recover receivables as of Dec. 31, 2002, due mainly to mistakes, embezzlement and theft, the Board of Audit of Japan said in a survey.

The largest portion — 11 billion yen — stemmed from its failure to collect a 20 percent tax on interest on “maruyu” postal savings accounts for people aged 65 or older and the disabled whose deposits exceed the 3.5 million yen tax-free ceiling, according to the survey.

About 6 billion yen in unaccounted for receivables resulted from illegal actions by postal workers such as embezzlement and theft, 6 billion yen was due to crimes committed by people other than postal employees, such as thefts of postal savings with stolen cash cards, and another 6 billion yen came from incorrect payouts of insurance money and savings.