ID :
204471
Wed, 08/31/2011 - 00:01
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204471
The shortlink copeid
New premier-elect Noda sticks to tax hike plans
TOKYO, Aug. 30 Kyodo -
Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda indicated Tuesday he would stick to the government's plan to raise some taxes to secure funds for reconstruction work following the March earthquake and tsunami.
The government ''should principally respond by considering the basic guidelines and law for reconstruction,'' Noda told a press conference held before the Diet named him as premier. He was elected as the new head of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Monday.
Noda was referring to the set of policy priorities and rules adopted last month on rebuilding the areas devastated by the March 11 disaster, including the guidelines on how to finance such work and implying provisional tax hikes, the proceeds from which would be used to service envisaged special government bonds.
Noda said the government needs to seek support from opposition parties for its fiscal policy, expressing his intention to hold intense discussions with them on such issues as creating a third extra budget for fiscal 2011 and plans to double the nation's consumption tax rate in stages to 10 percent by the mid-2010s in a bid to cover swelling welfare costs.
The premier-elect warned of downside risks to Japan's economic recovery from the natural disaster, citing the recent slowdown of the U.S. economy, the sovereign debt crisis in some eurozone countries and the sharp rise of the yen in the currency market.
Noda, the finance minister in the Cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan, suggested his government would immediately work to address the negative fallout from the yen's appreciation, which has hurt the profitability of Japanese exporters and sparked fears that domestic manufacturers might accelerate their shift of production abroad in pursuit of cheaper labor and other costs.
Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda indicated Tuesday he would stick to the government's plan to raise some taxes to secure funds for reconstruction work following the March earthquake and tsunami.
The government ''should principally respond by considering the basic guidelines and law for reconstruction,'' Noda told a press conference held before the Diet named him as premier. He was elected as the new head of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan on Monday.
Noda was referring to the set of policy priorities and rules adopted last month on rebuilding the areas devastated by the March 11 disaster, including the guidelines on how to finance such work and implying provisional tax hikes, the proceeds from which would be used to service envisaged special government bonds.
Noda said the government needs to seek support from opposition parties for its fiscal policy, expressing his intention to hold intense discussions with them on such issues as creating a third extra budget for fiscal 2011 and plans to double the nation's consumption tax rate in stages to 10 percent by the mid-2010s in a bid to cover swelling welfare costs.
The premier-elect warned of downside risks to Japan's economic recovery from the natural disaster, citing the recent slowdown of the U.S. economy, the sovereign debt crisis in some eurozone countries and the sharp rise of the yen in the currency market.
Noda, the finance minister in the Cabinet of outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan, suggested his government would immediately work to address the negative fallout from the yen's appreciation, which has hurt the profitability of Japanese exporters and sparked fears that domestic manufacturers might accelerate their shift of production abroad in pursuit of cheaper labor and other costs.
