PWRI Web Magazine Editorial Staff
P.R. Managerial Meeting
<Tsukuba>
General Manager: Dr.Kazunori Wada, Representative managers: Mr. Eiji Aoki, Ms. Harumi Moriki, Mr. Toshio Yarimizo, Mr. Masuo Kondo, Mr. Minoru Kikuchi, Mr. Makoto Kimura, Managers: Mr. Yoshiaki Sato, Mr. Takahiro Yamanashi, Mr. Akira Kamakura, Mr. Yoshinori Nonomura, Ms. Yuko Nagaya, Mr. Yuya Kato, Dr. Mamoru Suwa, Mr. Yuji Okayasu, Mr. Hitoshi Umino, Mr. Koji Ishida, Mr. Nobuharu Isago, Mr. Tomoyuki Noro, Mr. Yasushi Josen
<CERI>
General Manager: Dr. Atsushi Yoshii, Managers: Mr. Wataru Suzuki, Mr. Atsushi Takiguchi, Mr.Yoshio Ninomiya, Mr.Morito Takahashi, Mr. Hiroyasu Kyoshi, Dr. Motoki Asano, Dr. Yoshiaki Hideshima

Editor´s Note

At long last, the Winter Olympic Games has started at Vancouver, Canada, four years after the last Games. Four years have already passed since Ms. Shizuka Arakawa gave that excellent performance demonstrating her Ina Bauer, to the music of Puccini's Turandot.
Recently, in the newspaper, the sports pages have been dominated by the Winter Olympics, but Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, is another hot topic on the economic pages. As Greek budget deficit has reached double figures relative to GDP, it has not met strict criteria, which is less than three per cent of their GDP, in order to participate in the euro, the official currency of EU. This topic also holds significance for to Japanese financial problems. However, there are differences in the case of Japan. Although Japan has a budget deficit, its FX reserves are huge and the Balance of Payments is in the black, and at about 6%, the ratio of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) held by foreign investors is very low. JGBs holders include commercial banks, insurance companies, Japan Post Group, pension funds, and the Bank of Japan, which means that the money saved by Japanese people is used to purchase bonds. Some say that financial reconstruction should be the top priority. Others say fiscal action is necessary to cope with the gap between supply and demand, which has resulted in many people losing their jobs. Both of these opinions sound very reasonable. When there is an overwhelmingly large amount of debt, there is understandably the fear of default risk. Money that finds no other places to be invested is spent on JGBs. If JGBs disappear, the problem of how to use savings and pensions will present itself.
I have the feeling that the Japanese budget deficit is not simply one of balancing accounts, but is diferrent matter.
(Yoshiaki Sato)