PM Abe Urged to Raise Sales Tax Again

Japan should proceed with another increase in the sales tax as planned to signal it’s serious about reining in the world’s biggest debt burden, an adviser to central bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda said.

Annualized growth of 2.5 percent or more this quarter would be a green light for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to go ahead with the higher levy, supporting the economy with additional stimulus as needed, Masahiro Kawai, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said in an interview yesterday.

Abe is set to decide by the end of the year whether to raise the levy by another two percentage points to 10 percent after the rise in April caused the worst contraction in more than five years. Abe and Kuroda will meet today to discuss the economy and possibly whether further monetary policy steps are necessary, Fuji News Network reported, citing unidentified people.

Bloomberg

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