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Report
No.231101 |
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- Domestic - |
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Government to Cut National Public Servants by 5.7% over 5 Years The government convened a meeting of the Headquarters for Promoting Administrative Reform (headed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ) on June 27 and finalized a plan to achieve net reduction in the legally prescribed staff number by 5.7% in 5 years, which is a part of efforts to reduce government spending. Under the plan, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) will reduce the staff number by 7,012 or 23.3% of the total. The MAFF's reduction number will be shared by the three sections of agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics, of food control, and for forestry control. The whole plan is due to be authorized by the cabinet meeting on June 30 and put to implementation. The personnel reduction plan aims to cut staff number of the central government ministries and agencies by more than 18,936 over 5 years from FY2006 to FY2010 from the total of 332,034, which is the present staff number of national public servants. It has to be noted, however, that some 40% of the total reduction will be made by changing their status as non-national public servants when they are transferred to incorporated administrative agencies. For MAFF, the section for agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics (excluding the information subsection) will cut by 2,406 or 48% from the prescribed number of 5,008 as at the end of FY2005. Of that reduction, however, 1,725 will be achieved by transfer to other sections. The section for food control (including food safety and consumer affairs) will reduce by 2,196 or 30% from the prescribed number of 7,393, but likewise, 1,078 of them will be by transferring. The section for forest control will reduce by 2,410 or 46% from the prescribed number of 5,264, and 1,970 of them will be by transferring to incorporated administrative agencies. The government also convened a joint meeting with the Headquarters for the Promotion of the Reform of Policy-based Finance to discuss about abolition and/or amalgamation of the government-funded financial institutions. That meeting approved a grand institutional design composed of the two main schemes, both to take effect in October 2008: one is to amalgamate five institutions and establish a special financial company on it, including Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries Finance Corporation and National Life Finance Corporation; two is to realize full privatization of Development Bank of Japan and the Shoko Chukin Bank. |
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