Analysis of the FY 2014 Budget by Category I
The < Analysis of the FY 2014 Budget by Category I> has been published in order to effectively support the review of FY 2014 Budget in thesix categories of health, welfare and employment; education; culture, sports and tourism; environment; research and development; industry, small businesses and energy. The main results are summarized as follows.The
report addresses an increasing need for analysis by category based on the following issues: the need for strategic resource allocation with consideration given to changes in the social and economic structures; the need to link the review with that of the total fiscal amount in order to maintain fiscal stability; and the need for an assessment on the national fiscal operations plan and fiscal operations plan by category.
In the category, analyses were conducted on the increased demand for welfare and its impact on fiscal stability, the need to secure post-retirement income for an aging population, the revision on National Basic Livelihood Security system, the need for a more effective and efficient housing program, the need for fiscal tightening on health insurance, and the need for more effective job creation programs.
Main subjects of analysis in the category are the appropriate size of education-related subsidies to local governments, the restructuring of the ratio between regular subsidies and special subsidies, the effects of university tuition subsidies, a more effective implementation of programs concerning university admission and restructuring of university administrations, as well as improved infrastructure for ongoing adult education and vocational education.
In the category, the report takes a closer look at the feasibility of hitting the goal of earmarking 2% of the total national budget for culture-related projects, the need to revamp procedures that currently prioritize supplementary programs, the issue of giving loans to luxury hotels under the program to provide financing opportunities to the tourism industry, and the increase in project costs when bidding for large-scale international sport events.
In the category, imbalanced investment across various sectors, regional gaps existing with regards to available environmental services, as well as a lack of preventive measures to preserve the environment have been reviewed. In particular, the needs to streamline similar or redundant projects, as well as the needs to promote R&D in the environment sector have been suggested as areas that require further development.
In the category, the diminishing rate of increase in R&D investment, the discrepancy between the fiscal operations plan and the budget set, and increased investment in projects to promote creativity were analyzed. The need to develop a qualitative performance index on R&D investment is also suggested.
In the category, improved industrial applications of R&D results, the need to improve financing programs for small and medium-sized businesses, the efficacy of policies to stabilize the supply of electric power, and the need to efficiently manage special accounting funds are reviewed.
