Japan’s new premier warns of Greece-like debt crisis if action not taken

Japan PM warns of Greece-like debt crisis

TOKYO — New Prime Minister Naoto Kan warns Japan could face a debt crisis like Greece’s if it doesn’t deal urgently with its swelling national debt.

Kan, speaking in his first address to Parliament after taking office this week, said Friday that Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, cannot continue to rely on issuing bonds to pay off its debts as its coffers shrink amid an aging and declining population.

Kan, who previously served as finance minister, said his government needs drastic reform to achieve fiscal health, while proposing tax reforms and elimination of wasteful spending. Japan has the largest public debt among industrialized nations, at 218.6 percent of its gross domestic product in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund.