May 11 (NHK) - Japan's Finance Ministry says the nation's debt has exceeded 10 trillion dollars, hitting a record high for a third straight year.
The ministry announced on Friday that the debt stood at more than 1,103 trillion yen at the end of March. The amount was up about 140 billion dollars on the year.
The debt includes 8.9 trillion dollars in outstanding government bonds, about 667 billion dollars in short-term government securities called financing bills, and 484 billion dollars in borrowings.
This translates into 79,000 dollars of debt for each person in Japan.
Tax revenues are not enough to cover the nation's ballooning social security costs as the population continues to age. The government has to rely on issuing new bonds to finance the expenses.
Ministry officials say rebuilding Japan's finances is an urgent matter.
Source: ANNnewsCH
