, commonly referred to by a term which literally translates to , is a set of policy guidelines used by the Japanese government to draft policy on economic and fiscal management. First proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party in 2001, it is formulated annually by the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy. The initiative was abandoned by the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

in 2010, but revived in 2013 under the

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...

's administration.

Background

Before 2001, the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

exercised a strong influence over the compilation of the budget. The 86th Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshirō Mori, established the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP), modelled on the American

Council of Economic Advisers The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is a United States agency within the Executive Office of the President established in 1946, which advises the president of the United States on economic policy. The CEA provides much of the empirical resea ...

, in January 2001 to strengthen the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

’s power over economic and

fiscal policy In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection ( taxes or tax cuts) and expenditure to influence a country's economy. The use of government revenue expenditures to influence macroeconomic variab ...

. The council has up to 11 members, including the Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy and the Governor of the

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

. It is chaired by the Prime Minister, with four or more independent financial experts. Outside experts are expected to give the council opinions that are not affiliated with the government. It also gives ministers and specialists an opportunity to be more influential in shaping economic policy.

History

At the end of February 2001, the CEFP proposed the creation of a as a step towards reforming the budget. This garnered opposition from the Ministry of Finance, concerned that the plan would be too detailed and ineffective. After Mori's resignation, his successor

Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...

adopted the outline and proposed the first ''Honebuto-no hōshin'' (literally "big-boned policy") statement in June 2001. The ''Honebuto-no hōshin'' was designed to change the basic structure of politics, expressly in relation to the budget. Koizumi aimed at giving credibility to the contents of the budget. In Japan, the Ministry of Finance decides on a budget bill, traditionally reflecting the stance of the party in government. Koizumi considered this method inadequate to combat Japan's chronic deflation and wanted accountability to rest not primarily with government officials but rather with the members of the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

, the representatives of the Japanese people. Therefore, this policy agenda was put forward in 2001 by the Koizumi government. ''Honebuto-no hōshin'' is a policy term used by the Liberal Democratic Party, and was not used to describe the policies of the

, which was in power from 2010 to 2012. It has been amended since then and, after a brief hiatus,

's government announced a new ‘Honebuto-no hōshin’ in 2013. Major laws proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party have been discussed as part of the policy, for example, postal service privatization in 2001 and the trinity reform in 2003. The policy has had a strong influence on Abenomics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honebuto no hoshin 2001 establishments in Japan 2010 disestablishments in Japan 2013 establishments in Japan Politics of Japan Government finances in Japan Economy of Japan