菅直人：日本经济“处在崩溃的边缘”

Japan is at "risk of collapse¹" under its huge debt mountain, the country's new prime minister has said.

日本新首相称，日本经济在巨大的债务压力下“处在崩溃的边缘”。

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New premier Naoto Kan warned that Japan must change or face "collapse"

Naoto Kan, in his first major speech since taking over, said Japan needed a financial restructuring to avert³（避免） a Greece-style crisis.

"Our country's outstanding public debt is huge... our public finances have become the worst of any developed country," he said.

After years of borrowing, Japan's debt is twice its gross（总共的，粗野的） domestic（国内的，家庭的） product.

"It is difficult to continue our fiscal⁴ policies（财政政策） by heavily relying on the issuance of government bonds," said Mr Kan, Japan's former finance minister.

"Like the confusion in the eurozone triggered by Greece, there is a risk of collapse if we leave the increase of the public debt untouched and then lose the trust of the bond markets," he said.

Tax reform

Mr Kan did not detail the fiscal changes he may impose to revive（苏醒，复兴） Japan's economy after years to stagnation⁵（停滞） .

But in the past he has advocated（提倡，主张） increasing Japan's sales tax, a move that would be unpopular.

He said: "It is unavoidable to launch a full reform of the tax system. If we maintain the current level of issuance of new bonds, outstanding debt will surpass 200% of GDP in a few years.

"It's been 20 years since the collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. Because the Japanese economy had been in the doldrums（萧条时期，无精打采） , people have lost the trust they had and fear the uncertainty⁶ of the future," he said.