For thirteen years excess capacity and debt have weighed down the Japanese economy. This weak economic performance has implications for the world economy as a whole and so the IMF has been involved in a dialogue with the Japanese authorities to identify the policies needed to bring it out of its slump. The papers in this book are part of the process of identifying the causes and proposing solutions. They examine the weakness of the financial sector; corporate restructuring and structural reforms; fiscal policy; monetary and exchange rate policy and the impact of Japanese economic policies on the rest of Asia. The overall conclusion is that although a start has been made on necessary reforms, much still needs to be done

Volume editor: Jonathan David Ostry