sovereign debt crisis
sovereignと聞くと，領土問題が先に浮かびのイメージだけに固定される傾向がありますが，この例にあるように「国家の負債危機」，つまり「赤字国債」を意味するときにもこの単語が用いられることがあります。（UG）
IMF warns Japan of eurozone-style debt crisis
TOKYO, Oct. 10, Kyodo
Japan could suffer a sovereign debt crisis similar to the one unfolding in the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, warning of the country's record debt levels and the growing exposure of banks to government bonds.
The IMF urged Tokyo to swiftly work out necessary measures to improve its fiscal health, the worst among major developed economies, and have domestic banks recognize the risks attached to large holdings of sovereign debt.
"The present difficulties in the euro area provide a cautionary tale for Japan, given the latter's high public debt load and interdependence between banks and the sovereign that is expected to deepen over the medium term," the IMF said in its latest Global Financial Stability Report.
Japan has benefitted from large capital inflows from abroad due to the eurozone crisis, with foreign investors seeking refuge in Japanese assets and borrowing costs for the government falling to near record lows.
But at the same time, this has pushed the yen's exchange rate to historic highs, impacting the nation's exports and production.
The headwinds to the economy have led to weakening corporate demand for bank lending, forcing banks to respond by increasing their holdings of Japanese government bonds, according to the report, released after the IMF and the World Bank started their weeklong annual meetings in Tokyo on Tuesday.
With the trend likely to continue, Japanese banks are expected to raise their share of government bonds to 30 percent by 2017 from 24 percent in 2011, the fund's estimate showed. As the eurozone crisis has shown, growing exposure to sovereign debt can lead to a "very problematic interdependence" between the government and domestic banks, and make their capital "even more susceptible" to any sharp fluctuation in interest rates in the future, the Washington-based multilateral lender said. "The key lesson of the past few years is that imbalances need to be addressed well before markets start flagging credit concerns," it said, urging Japanese authorities to take swift action against such potential risks.
