<b>Koizumi strives to save Japan</b>
Euromoney, is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2024
Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement
BANKING

<b>Koizumi strives to save Japan</b>

Headline: Koizumi strives to save Japan
Source: Euromoney
Date: July 2001
Author: Kevin Rafferty

In a country which had become utterly disillusioned by its politicians’ failure to revive the economy, Japan’s new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has quickly won huge popularity with calls for radical reform. Japan certainly needs this. And Koizumi intends to start at the key point, with the country’s ailing banks. But the consequences of reform will certainly be painful. If slowing growth and rising unemployment erode his popularity, the old political inertia may stifle Koizumi’s efforts yet.

       
Junichiro Koizumi
Japan’s new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, was described by one of his fellow Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members of parliament as looking “like one of those homeless guys in the park”.

It is a remark that may come back to haunt the country, especially since Koizumi’s warm embrace of economic reform policies is likely to increase Japan’s unemployment rate, which is already at record high levels of around 5%.

No matter: only a few days after Koizumi’s new government unveiled a painful blueprint to reform the economy, at an immediate cost of up to 200,000 jobs through getting rid of banks’ bad debts, the LDP was the main gainer in key municipal elections in Tokyo.










Gift this article