Japan’s Government Sells Out

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

LDP Panel Eyes Land Sale, Loan Securitization To Cut Govt Assets

TOKYO (Nikkei)–As part of efforts to pare down government assets, a subpanel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s fiscal reform committee will recommend as early as Wednesday the creation of an independent institution to oversee the streamlining of publicly held property and the securitization of government-held loans, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has learned.

“We will submit a proposal that prunes more than 100 trillion yen” from the government’s roughly 430 trillion yen in marketable assets, LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Hidenao Nakagawa said in a speech Tuesday. Nakagawa also heads the fiscal reform committee.

…

The subpanel will also propose plans to sell such holdings as civil servant dormitories and implement private-sector ideas for using government land more effectively. Development proposals would be solicited to compete with the land use plans of the pertinent government ministries and agencies. The new organization would oversee disclosure methods, as well as prioritize the government and private-sector proposals.

The subpanel will also recommend selling the naming rights to national stadiums and other facilities, as well as creating advertising space on government vehicles.

(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition)

Ick!