Japan says stimulus not set at US$50b
Japan's government spokesman said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has yet to decide whether to raise the nation's sales tax or the size of any stimulus package to cushion the economic blow.
Japan's government spokesman said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has yet to decide whether to raise the nation's sales tax or the size of any stimulus package to cushion the economic blow.
The newspaper yesterday said Abe would announce an increase in the tax as scheduled, along with US$50 billion (5 trillion yen) in economic measures. Kyodo News reported similar information.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo the reports were not true and that the size of any package is yet to be decided.
Stimulus measures would ease the blow to consumption and economic growth from the scheduled increase in the tax to 8 per cent in April from 5 per cent now, a move that would shore up the indebted nation's finances.
Koichi Hamada and Etsuro Honda, two of Abe's advisers on economic policy, have cautioned against going ahead with the scheduled tax increase.
Abe will announce his decision on whether to proceed on October 1, after the release of the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey of business sentiment.
The 5 trillion yen figure in media reports is the same as the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey in July of the amount needed to offset any damage to growth from the planned April tax increase.
Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday that "sufficient stimulus" would be needed to avoid "breaking" the economy.
