Japan's debt issuance likely to exceed $960 billion

Japan is likely to sell new government bonds that would push the total past $960 billion in the current fiscal year ending in March 2021 as it announced a new stimulus package to speed up the recovery from a deep economic slump.

The country's combined value of coronavirus-related stimulus will reach about $3 trillion, around two-thirds the size of its economy.

Japan's tax revenues during the year will likely be around 55 trillion yen, which is 8 trillion yen short of initial estimates, as the pandemic hit corporate profits.

The shortfall would be Japan's largest since fiscal 2009 during the Lehman Brothers-triggered global financial crisis.

The Japanese economy rebounded in the third quarter after suffering its worst postwar contraction in the second quarter but its public debt is now twice the size of its economy and is the largest biggest among advanced nations.