郵貯限度額上げ 自民党提言の「含意」はどこに

The Yomiuri Shimbun
What are implications of LDP move to raise limit on Japan Post deposits?
郵貯限度額上げ　自民党提言の「含意」はどこに

Is there any convincing reason for hastening an increase in the deposit limit at the state-owned Japan Post Bank Co.? The wisdom of raising the ceiling is extremely questionable.
　郵便貯金の限度額引き上げを急ぐ必要があるのか、甚だ疑問である。

The Liberal Democratic Party has worked out a set of proposals that would increase the per-person deposit ceiling for postal savings from the current ¥10 million to ¥30 million in stages.
　自民党が、ゆうちょ銀行の貯金限度額を１０００万円から段階的に３０００万円に引き上げるべきだとする提言をまとめた。

The LDP has also set out a policy seeking to boost the maximum amount of life insurance coverage at Japan Post Insurance Co. to ¥20 million from the present ¥13 million. The party is calling for the government to put the proposals into force by the end of September this year.
　かんぽ生命保険の加入限度額についても、現在の最大１３００万円から２０００万円に増額する方針を掲げた。政府に対し、今年９月末までの実施を求めている。

The proposals say the current limit on postal savings is excessively low when taking into consideration such factors as convenience for depositors. However, the additional Diet resolution that accompanied the April 2012 enactment of the revision of the Postal Service Privatization Law stated explicitly that the deposit cap will “not be raised at least for the time being.”
　提言は、利便性などを考えれば、現行の限度額は低すぎると指摘している。しかし、２０１２年４月の郵政民営化法改正時の付帯決議は、限度額を「当面は引き上げない」と明記している。

This move by the LDP is clearly running counter to the spirit of the additional Diet resolution.
この趣旨に反するのは明らかである。

Japan Post Group is a state-owned, privately run enterprise with the government holding 100 percent of its paid-in capital. Should Japan Post Bank scramble to increase its total deposits on the strength of an implicit government guarantee, there could be a drain on deposits at private-sector regional financial institutions that compete with the postal bank.
　郵政グループは、政府が１００％出資する国有民営の企業だ。政府の信用を背景に貯金集めに走れば、競合する地域金融機関から預金が流出することになろう。

It is only natural that the banking world is strongly concerned that an increase in the postal bank deposit cap would squeeze private businesses in the financial sector.
　金融業界が、限度額の引き上げによる「民業圧迫」に強い懸念を示しているのは当然である。

The proposed deposit cap increase is also inconsistent with the business strategy of Japan Post Bank, which aims to facilitate collaboration with regional financial institutions through such means as formulating business ties with them. The government should carefully consider the advisability of the LDP proposals.
　地域金融機関との業務提携などを目指すゆうちょ銀の経営戦略とも整合性を欠く。政府は、提言の是非を慎重に検討すべきだ。

Japan Post Group is scheduled to list the stocks of three companies, Japan Post Holdings Co. and two units under its umbrella — Japan Post Bank Co. and Japan Post Insurance Co. — at the same time this coming autumn or later.
　郵政グループは、持ち株会社の日本郵政と傘下のゆうちょ銀、かんぽ生命の計３社の株式を、今秋以降、同時に上場する予定だ。

Post offices’ vote-drawing power

The pace at which the three companies’ stocks will be put on the market remains unclear, however. Fully privatizing Japan Post Bank and the others by selling all their stocks is just a nonbinding goal to strive for.
　ただ、３社の株式がどのようなペースで市場に売却されるのか不透明である。ゆうちょ銀株などを全て売却する完全民営化は、努力目標に過ぎない。

Preparations for raising the deposit limit should be launched only after the specific path toward full privatization of the Japan Post Group firms is clarified, after the sale of their shares to the public gets on track.
　限度額の引き上げは、株式の売却が軌道に乗り、完全民営化への道筋がはっきりした段階で着手するのが筋だ。

The outstanding deposits at Japan Post Bank are estimated at ¥180 trillion, nearly double the figure for any one of the nation’s private mega-banks.
　ゆうちょ銀の貯金残高は約１８０兆円とメガバンクの２倍近い。

Its huge sum of government bond holdings, which account for more than half the assets of the postal bank, has excessively low interest rates, making it difficult for the postal bank to secure profits from holding them.
巨額の資産の半分以上を占める国債は低金利で、運用益は思うように上がっていない。

If the postal bank continues increasing its savings without any promising outlook for using them, it will become even harder for it to manage its deposits.
展望もなく貯金を増やせば、運用難に拍車をかける恐れがある。

Japan Post Co. President Taizo Nishimuro said at a news conference in April that although he believes the deposit cap should eventually be eliminated, he wondered whether abolishing the ceiling “would really be a move in the right direction when viewed from the perspective of the financial world as a whole.”
　日本郵政の西室泰三社長は４月の記者会見で、限度額撤廃が望ましいとしつつ、「金融界全体からみて正しい方向かどうか疑問を持っている」と述べた。

However, the National Association of Postmasters (Zentoku), the nationwide organization of local post office chiefs, has been seeking a higher cap on the deposits, because raising the cap will increase commission revenues for individual post offices.
　ただ、個々の郵便局は貯金額などに応じて手数料が増えるメリットがあり、全国郵便局長会（全特）は引き上げを求めている。

In the 2013 House of Councillors election, a candidate from Zentoku ran in the proportional representation contest on an LDP ticket and won with the largest number of votes of any LDP candidate.
　一昨年の参院比例選で、自民党の全特出身候補が党内トップ当選を果たした。

The ruling party subsequently included a review of the postal bank deposit cap in the electoral platform in last year’s House of Representatives election.
自民党は昨年の衆院選公約に限度額見直しを掲げた。

The LDP may be eager to see post offices give full play to their vote-gathering abilities in next year’s upper house election as well.
来年の参院選でも郵便局に集票力を発揮してほしい。

The party’s recent proposals may have been designed to serve such a purpose.
そんな意図を込めた提言ではないか。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 29, 2015)