A round-up of public finance news stories from the Asia Pacific region you might have missed this week (May 20-24).

Japan warns of shaky future on its public debt

A Japanese government panel has warned there is ‘absolutely no guarantee’ that domestic investors will keep financing the country’s large public debt, citing the risk of a spike in bond yields that could limit long-term growth prospects, according to a draft report (Yahoo South Africa).

Basri made Indonesia finance minister and tasked to guard budget

Indonesia named Chatib Basri finance minister this week as the government prepares to raise the price of subsidised fuel and curb a current account deficit that has hurt the rupiah (Bloomberg).

Decade of cuts blamed for Australia's severe structural deficit

The federal budget has fallen into a structural deficit so severe that it will keep the nation's finances in the red for at least a year longer than the latest official forecasts, according to a long-awaited analysis by parliament's independent budget authority (The Australian).

Sri Lanka's public sector uplifted with World Bank assistance

The public sector wing of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the Association of Public Finance Accountants of Sri Lanka, has commenced its preliminary work to help uplift the public sector accountants with the assistance from the World Bank (The Nation, Sri Lanka).

New South Wales treasurer says accounting change will take $1bn off bottom line

Despite billions in asset sales, the New South Wales state budget will be out by more than $1bn this year because of a change in accounting practices (Daily Telegraph, Australia).