The Ministry of Finance believes that it is important to promote large-scale infrastructure management that is not tied to existing administrative units, as per capita infrastructure costs are expected to increase due to population decline and aging infrastructure. As a specific example, he cited measures to introduce large-scale, cross-sectoral management and maintenance through comprehensive private contracting for multiple local and regional governments. This is in line with the concept of “regional infrastructure group revitalization strategy management (group management)” promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism from the perspective of financial institutions.
This was explained at the Financial System Subcommittee of the Financial System Council (an advisory body to the Minister of Finance) on the 22nd as one of the subcommittee's views on ``local finance.'' In preparation for the formulation of the fiscal year 2025 budget, the Finance Council will discuss how to use the budget to address various policy issues in the future.
According to the Ministry of Finance's estimates, the per capita cost of infrastructure maintenance, management, and renewal will be 89,000 yen in 2023, 99,000 yen in 2028, and 11.5 million yen in 2033, even if preventive maintenance is performed at 10,000 yen, and is expected to increase to 132,000 yen in 2043. It is hoped that the adoption of large-scale, multi-industry cooperation in infrastructure management and comprehensive outsourcing to the private sector will improve the efficiency of ordering operations as well as maintenance and management costs.
From the perspective of rational management of public buildings, he pointed out the importance of solving the consolidation and abolition from a broad perspective, including neighboring municipalities. He gave the example of Akita Prefecture and Akita City merging the functions of their respective cultural facilities and developing them together, reducing maintenance and operation management costs.
It also calls for regionalization and communityization of wastewater projects. As a general rule, wastewater treatment should be financed by user fees, with users being able to collect enough fees if the population in the treatment area is large, but public funds should be used if the population is small. To take advantage of economies of scale, regional expansion and cooperation should be promoted, and maintenance and renewal of facilities should be cost-effective.
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