Up and up
There was an article last month about the latest government debt figures.
Seems like it’s still going up at just over 1% a year and is now over 8 million yen per inhabitant.
Now, I don’t pretend to understand what it means, but I intend to continue diversifying my investments by holding mostly non-Japanese assets and currencies.
Looking at the numbers, it seems possible that interest rates will not rise (making my variable rate mortgage safe?) and government debt will continue to rise (making tax increases likely?).
I’m hoping for a weaker yen in the future, but it would be great to have another five years or so of strength.
Any thoughts on the Japananese government debt?
really 8M yen per person?
I thought the US was much worse, but its only about 60K Dollars per person, so Japan is much worse off? But I guess debt here is local…
I am also staying away from Japan assets
I bought shares on the NIkkei in 2007 and am still down 50%….
Given the Japanese government’s current objective to reduce its debt burden, we will most likely see further tax hikes coupled with reductions in benefits. Not exactly a great thing if one starts investing abroad so as to mitigate the risks as pointed out.
The low interest rates have been around for 2 decades, and it is hard to see them going away anytime soon. Coupled with the yen rally, this might be an opportunity to do a carry trade.
The following video might hopefully help in understand the precariousness of the situation.
Game over, indeed!
Nice video, Desmond 🙂
‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst’ is my motto.