Aging society to hurt Japanese economy ( 2003-10-24 16:01) (Xinhua)
The increasing number of old people will lead to labor force shortage and
hold back Japan's economic development, said a government report Friday.
"The aging and declining population alone has negative effects on
macroeconomic growth," said an annual report on the Japanese economy and public
finance for fiscal 2003.
But whether the nation can overcome this downward pressure will "also depend
much on policy efforts," the report said.
The report said efforts should be made to allow women and senior citizens
with working desire to fill up the vacancy of labor force.
At the same time, Japan should raise its productivity and add investment in
research and development to promote technology innovation and in education to
boost the skills of the labor force, the reported pointed out.
In the long-run, the nation would also have to lure foreign capital into the
country to make up for the expected shortage of domestic savings linked to the
aging population, it said.
Japan's population is aging dramatically with the percentage of those over 65
years old standing at 18.5 percent as of October, 2002, and expected to rise to
28.7 percent in 2025.
The elderly put a tremendous burden on the government, and Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi has urged to cut governmental share in pension and medical
care.
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi suggested Tuesday that
the government will raise the mandatory retirement age at companies from 60 to
65 in a bid to hike the eligible age for corporate employees to start receiving
pensions.
