THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/06/24
The government will target special accounts, often called a "hotbed of waste," in a new round of review sessions to weed out wasteful public spending.
The third round, slated for mid-October, will cover all 51 programs in 18 special accounts, the annual total expenditure for which comes to almost 180 trillion yen ($1.98 trillion).
The plan was announced Wednesday by Renho, minister for government revitalization, and senior officials of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
They said the new round will delve into each account's programs and fund flows to determine whether it is really needed. The aim is to dig up "hidden reserves" that could be better spent on other projects.
Special accounts are set up separately from the general account budget to manage funds for specific projects, such as pension programs and social infrastructure, including roads and airports.
With specific-purpose tax and other revenue sources filling their coffers, the accounts are often criticized for wasteful spending, with only weak oversight from the Diet and the Finance Ministry.
In 2003, in criticizing the special accounts, then Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said: "When (parents in) the main house (general account budget) are eating rice gruel, the children in the outer house are feasting on sukiyaki."
The accounts' net total expenditures of 176.4 trillion yen in fiscal 2010 are far greater than the general account budget of 92.3 trillion yen.
The first round of public spending checks, conducted in November, reviewed 447 selected government projects while the second round, from April to May this year, looked into independent administrative corporations and public-interest organizations.
Special accounts were chosen for the third round because Prime Minister Naoto Kan apparently hopes to demonstrate the government's resolve to eliminate wasteful spending while pushing his election pledge for a debate on a consumption tax hike.
The DPJ will set up a task force for the scrutiny work within its policy research council by the end of July. In cooperation with the Government Revitalization Unit, task force members will conduct hearings on the accounts from related ministries and agencies.
In October, they will look into the systems and fund flows at the special accounts, their programs, assets and income from operations. If the accounts have reserves or surpluses they have little need of, the funds will be diverted to investment in fields with growth potential.
Among programs seen as problematic by the Government Revitalization Unit is the airport improvement program of the Special Account for Social Infrastructure, under the infrastructure ministry's jurisdiction.
The program (formerly the special account for airport development) is blamed for building many money-losing airports. Its main revenues are airport usage fees paid by airlines and aircraft fuel tax.
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