Message from the President and CEO
The JFM is a joint funding organization established under the law of Japan, which is wholly owned by all the Japanese local governments, with the objective to provide long-term and low-interest funds for local governments.
Fiscal 2021 was another year in which COVID-19 raged around the world. In the United States, the reduction of the quantitative easing monetary policy started in November last year. In addition, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the economic sanctions imposed in response, as well as the further rise in energy prices, have had a major impact on the global economy. In Japan, the Japanese government has compiled “Economic measures to overcome new coronavirus infections and to carve out a new era” and a related supplementary budget and initial budget for fiscal 2022 have been compiled.
The JFM has decided to lend appropriately for the proper management of public facilities, for which JFM funds are allocated more than twice in fiscal 2022 municipal bond plan as much as in fiscal 2021, as well as the remote place improvement projects, for which JFM funds were allocated for the first time. These are based on strong requests from local governments, and we believe that they meet the expectations of local governments for JFM funds as a form of “mutual aid”.
Also, the JFM will strive to improve the funding condition and support local governments’ funding demands timely and appropriately, in line with the trends of ESG investment such as green bond issuances.
In our local government support operations, the JFM will continue to steadily implement “Project to strengthen administration and finance management of local governments” in which the JFM sends advisers to local governments based on their situations and requests. Additionally, the JFM further will expand e-learning and enhances the analytical content of the financial analysis chart “New Octagon” through the use of ICT technology.
The JFM, under the management philosophy and motto “Supporting local economies through finance to create a future for regions”, will continue to make more effort to fulfill its required role as a joint funding organization and contribute to the sound financial management of local governments, which directly relates to the credibility of the JFM itself, fully considering a wide range of opinions, issues and needs of local governments, while the environment surrounding the JFM and local governments is changing significantly.
We appreciate the cooperation and support of all related persons.
SATO Fumitoshi
President and CEO
2022