Japan PM Takaichi Says She Has Not Ruled Out Debt Issuance to Fund Budget

The signal here is in the distinction, not the headline: Takaichi is keeping general debt issuance on the table while explicitly ruling out deficit-covering bonds for the sales-tax gap. That separation matters for how Japan's fiscal credibility is read, since the two instruments carry different connotations for bond markets even when both add supply. The immediate audience is JGB holders and anyone pricing Japanese duration risk. Whether the no-deficit-bond pledge holds as the budget takes shape is the open question worth watching.