Japan to Set Up Social Security Reform Council in Jan.: Takaichi

Ise, Mie Pref., Jan. 5 (Jiji Press)--Japan will set up a nonpartisan national council for an integrated reform of the country's tax and social security systems within January, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said at her New Year's press conference Monday.

Takaichi spoke in Ise, Mie Prefecture, after visiting Ise Jingu, a major Shinto shrine in the central Japan city.

Although the prime minister proposed the establishment of the national council in her policy speech at plenary meetings of both chambers of the Diet, the country's parliament, last October, the proposal has not gained the opposition's consent.

Takaichi explained that the council would play an important role in helping "to mitigate burdens on low and middle-income households and improve their take-home pay."

"We want to reach conclusions regarding issues, including the design of a refundable tax credit system, through discussions that transcend the boundaries between the ruling and opposition parties and gather the wisdom of experts."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]