FY 2002 Policy Evaluation Report (Summary)

"FY 2002 Policy Evaluation Report" (Summary)

June 30, 2003
Ministry of Finance

Performance evaluation

Ofthe 47 "policy goals" (formulated on March 29, 2002; see Annex1) established for FY2002, the performance of policies for 44 goalswere evaluated.

(Note

) Theevaluation report for the remaining three goals that are under the authority ofNational Tax Agency (2-2, 2-3, and 2-4 in Annex1) will be separately formulated and released by around the end ofSeptember of this year because the business year of the Agency is from Julythrough June of the following year.

Theevaluation was made as follows in accordance with the "Basic Plan on PolicyEvaluation" by the Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred as "theMinistry").

) The policy for each goal was evaluated from thefollowing four viewpoints in order to evaluate its multiple aspects.

i)	The degree of accomplishment of the goal in lightof indices.
ii)	Whether the process of administrative operationsfor accomplishing the goal (the means and procedures of the measures/activities)was appropriate, effective, and efficient.
iii)	Whether the analysis of the results has beenprecisely made (especially, identification of what was wrong when the goal couldnot be accomplished).
iv)	Whether useful and active proposals were madeconcerning improvement of the policy itself or improvement of the operations ofthe policy evaluation system.

) The policies were evaluated on each of the abovecriteria by using phrase patterns, according to the "Description Outline andEvaluation Manual" that was created based on the opinions of externalconsultants.

) In addition to the evaluation on each of theabove criteria, overall qualitative descriptions (a comprehensive review) werealso given.

)　Furthermore, with the aim of ensuring theobjectivity of the evaluation and raising its quality, the evaluation madeaccording to 1) through 3) above was discussed and reviewed by the Council onthe Policy Evaluation in the Ministry of Finance (hereinafter referred as "theCouncil";chairman: Taizo Nishimuro, Chairman of the Board of ToshibaCorporation; Vice-Chairperson of the Japan Business Federation).

Outline of the evaluation results

) The results of evaluation on each of the fourcriteria are roughly as follows.

i)	Withregard to the "degree of accomplishment," one goal was "accomplished,"39 goals were "largely accomplished," three goals were under the status of"There was progress toward accomplishment," and one goal was under thestatus of "There was a degree of progress toward accomplishment."
ii)	Withregard to the "process of administrative operations" it was "appropriate"for seven goals and "largely appropriate" for 37 goals; it was "effective"for five goals and "largely effective" for 30 goals; and, finally, it was"largely efficient" for five goals.
iii)	Withregard to "analysis of the results," the analysis was "precise" forthree goals and "largely precise" for 41 goals.
iv)	Withregard to "proposals of improvement measures," "useful and activeproposals were made" for seven goals, "useful proposals were made" for 16goals, "active proposals were made" for three goals, and "proposals weremade" for 18 goals. Meanwhile,with regard to "improvement measures for the operations of the policyevaluation system," "useful proposals were made" for 11 goals, "activeproposals were made" for six goals, and "proposals were made" for threegoals.

	(Note	) Forthe outline of the evaluation results, see the List of Evaluation Results byEach of the Four Criteria in Annex 2and the List of Evaluation Results by Goal in Annex3.

) The "comprehensive review" and the "commentby the Council" based on the above were roughly as follows.

i)	The"comprehensive review" describes the valued points of FY2002 administrativeoperations in relation to the accomplishment of goals. In addition, it requiresfurther improvement of the current administrative operations by pointing outspecific areas of improvement and points to pay attention, while also requiringthe continuation/promotion of appropriate policy operations and administrativeoperations for attaining the goal according to the results.
ii)	The"comment by the Council" points out issues that have to be addressed in thefuture.
	(Note	) Forthe above outline, see the List of Comprehensive Review on Major Policy Goalsand the Comment by the Council in Annex4.

II.

Comprehensive evaluation

Acomprehensive evaluation of "Japanese Assistance to Countries Affected by theAsian Currency Crisis" was carried out in FY2001/2002. In order to ensureobjectivity and transparency, the evaluation by an external research institute (Institute for International Monetary Affairs) was utilized. The externalresearch institute had prepared reports on the basis of the evaluation bycommittees composed of scholars and researchers. Based on these reports, theMinistry has prepared a comprehensive evaluation report.
Inaddition, the report was discussed and reviewed by the "Expert group on thechallenges of the Asian Economy and Financial Markets, Subcouncil on ForeignExchange and Other Transactions in the Council on Customs, Tariff, ForeignExchange and Other Transactions" and the Council.

Theexternal research institute performed its evaluation based on each of thefollowing five points in question. The results of the evaluation are roughly asfollows.

Point 1:

WasJapanese support timely and proper when the Asian Currency Crisis emerged in1997?
"Japancan be considered to have provided appropriate support."

Point 2:

Didthe assistance contribute to the accomplishment of the goal (stabilization offinancial system, etc.) sought?
"Itis believed to have contributed properly."
"Aquantitative analysis of the macro economy also shows that it was effective.But, if the assistance had been provided a year earlier, it would have hadgreater economic effects."

Point 3:

Didit contribute to nurturing a feeling of security in the Asian financial marketsand promote the re-inflow of capital?
"Itbrought a sense of relief to the Asian financial markets and contributed to thefresh inflow of capital."

Point 4:

Inwhat way did it contribute to the promotion of regional cooperation?
"Areview of efforts for regional cooperation, such as theChiang Mai Initiative,suggests that the frameworkof ASEAN plus 3 is most favorable. It is necessary to further strengthen it."
"TheJapanese governmentis highly valued as it actively participated in Kobe ResearchProject."

Point 5:

Howwas theJapanese assistance viewed by other countries, international organizations andthe mass media?
"Ingeneral,the Japaneseassistance was viewed positively."

TheMinistrybelieves that the content of the Japanese assistance was largely appropriate andeffective as was evaluated by the externalresearch institute. The timing of the assistance was also appropriate. However,there was a limitation to what the assistance could do due to temporalrestriction and limited information and policy tools in those days.
Basedon such reflection and in order to prevent another Asian Currency Crisis in thefuture, the Ministry has been striving to strengthen policy dialogues, establisha network for currency swap arrangements, and foster Asian bond markets.