The government is ready to clarify the fiscal policy goal of achieving a surplus in the primary balance by fiscal 2013, moving a step forward from the vague target of early in the next decade, government sources said Thursday.
The target year will be specified in midterm economic and fiscal policy guidelines the government is due to lay out by the end of January, the sources said.
A primary balance surplus means that tax revenues exceed expenditures minus debt-servicing costs.
The target for achieving the goal had been shifted from fiscal 2010 to the immediate years afterward, prompting calls for clarification.
But some analysts doubt the feasibility of the policy, given slumping tax revenues and ever-increasing debts, as the outstanding balance of government bonds is expected to reach a record 483 trillion yen in March 2005.
Under these circumstances, the primary balance policy may spur calls for a big hike in the consumption tax, they said.