TOKYO : A senior International Monetary Fund official warned of Japan's growing fiscal problems in an interview published Monday, describing the pace of deterioration as "pretty high".
IMF Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara made the comments in an interview with Kyodo news agency in Washington.
"Although Japan's problem should not be treated in the same way as the Greece debt crisis, its fiscal vulnerability is rising fairly high," he said.
While the fiscal deficit has been financed by high levels of saving in Japan, the pace of deterioration is now "pretty high" and the country must implement consolidation plans, he said.
Japan's outstanding public debt is projected to reach nearly 200 per cent of gross domestic product this year, Kyodo noted.
Last week the Fitch ratings agency warned that Japan's credit rating was under threat due to soaring government debt.
Japan's debt has soared as the government spends its way out of the economic doldrums amid plummeting tax revenues and soaring welfare costs for its ageing population.
Standard & Poor's in January warned that it might cut its rating on Japanese government bonds, which could raise Japan's borrowing costs.
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