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TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s government debt will top 1,100 trillion yen ($8.47 trillion) for the first time at the fiscal year end in March 2027 as the country remains heavily dependent on borrowing, a draft estimate seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Even assuming a rosy scenario in which the world’s third-largest economy grows an annual 3% in nominal terms, the debt would continue to grow to just shy of 1,200 trillion yen at the end of the forecast period ending in March 2033, it showed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Reflecting snowballing debt, interest payments would nearly double from 8.6 trillion yen for fiscal 2023 to 17.1 trillion yen by the end of the forecast period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The government will present the estimate to parliament as reference for lawmakers’ debates on next fiscal year’s budget.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Ministry of Finance, in separate projections issued earlier this month, said it could keep new bond issuance at some 32 trillion yen in the next few years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Rounds of COVID-19 stimulus spending have helped boost rolling-over bonds to 150 trillion yen, which will come down to 130 trillion yen in fiscal 2024, the projections showed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n