The government will sell ¥10.8 trillion in additional new bonds this fiscal year to pay for Prime Minister Taro Aso's record stimulus package, Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said.
The extra debt sale will bring the government's new bond sales for this fiscal year to a record ¥44.1 trillion. Of the additional issuance, ¥7.3 trillion will be in construction bonds, with ¥3.5 trillion in deficit-covering bonds, Yosano said at a Tuesday press conference in Tokyo.
Aso on April 10 unveiled a ¥15.4 trillion stimulus package to help revive an economy headed toward its worst postwar recession. Bond yields rose to a five-month high the same day on concern that debt sales would keep rising as Aso seeks to spend his way out of the nation's slump.
"It's important that bond issuances don't distort the market," Yosano said. "There needs to be careful dialogue with investors."