Measures to ease inflation must be speedy, says Prime Minister Ishiba

Japan Times

8 hours ago

Any measures to ease inflation in Japan must be speedy and shouldn't impede the government's ability to fund social services, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday, in a comment reflecting his aversion to sales tax cuts as opposition parties campaign to lower the duty ahead of a key election next month.
"We must secure the necessary funds for medical care, elderly care, and pensions. On top of that, the response to the current inflationary trends needs immediacy. It needs to be speedy,' Ishiba said on Sunday at a conference hosted by nonprofit organization Japan Productivity Center. He added that measures to counter inflation must reach those most in need, and touted recent steps that eased rice and gasoline prices as examples.
Ishiba has opposed lowering the sales tax ahead of an Upper House election where voters will vote on the performance of his minority government. The ruling coalition suffered its worst-ever result in a Tokyo metropolitan election last week, with voters raising the high cost-of-living as well as anger over political scandals as factors that helped determine how they voted.
A Kyodo News poll conducted over the weekend showed that 50.2% of respondents hoped to see the ruling coalition lose their majority in the Upper House, while 38.1% hoped to see them maintain it. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner Komeito need to win only 50 out of 125 contested seats to maintain a majority in the Upper House.
The same poll showed that 70% of respondents want a cut in the consumption tax to deal with persistent inflation, while Ishiba's pledge to provide cash handouts was supported by 23.8%.
Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the country's largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, promoted his party's promise to temporarily lower the consumption tax on food, saying that a major factor for Japan's inflation, currently the highest among Group of Seven countries, is rising food prices.
"I believe the most effective way to counter inflation is by bringing down the current 8% consumption tax on food down to 0%,' Noda said at the same conference, adding that his plan would call for a temporary cut with a pre-determined time limit of up to two years.
Inflation in Tokyo slowed in June for the first time in four months as a result of government steps to reduce utility and gasoline prices. Still, voters across Japan have seen more than three years of inflation at or above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.