Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida poses during a photo session with his new cabinet members at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo, Japan, September 13, 2023. Zhang Xiaoyu/Pool acquire license rights via Portal
TOKYO, Nov 2 (Portal) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday the government would spend over 17 trillion yen ($113 billion) on a package of measures to cushion the economic blow of rising inflation, including tax cuts belong.
To finance some of the spending, the government will prepare a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year worth 13.1 trillion yen, Kishida told reporters.
Portal reported on Wednesday that the government is considering spending over 17 trillion yen on the package, which will include temporary cuts in income and housing taxes as well as subsidies to reduce gasoline and electricity bills.
Inflation, fueled by rising commodity costs, has remained above the central bank’s 2% target for more than a year, weighing on consumption and dimming the outlook for an economy that has been slow to recover from the scars left by COVID-19.
The rising cost of living is being blamed in part for Kishida’s declining approval ratings, increasing pressure on the prime minister to take action to ease the strain on households.
With wage increases proving too slow to offset rising prices, Kishida had said the government would cushion the blow by returning to households some of the expected increase in tax revenue from solid economic growth.
($1 = 150.5100 yen)
Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto, writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Kim Coghill
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