Takaichi to Instruct LDP Thurs. on Consumption Tax Cut

Tokyo, July 29 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to instruct senior officials of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to make necessary preparations for a law revision to implement a two-year consumption tax rate cut for food items to 1 pct from April 2027.

The government and the ruling coalition, which also includes the Japan Innovation Party, hope to formalize the tax cut policy in early August and submit a bill to amend related legislation to an extraordinary session of the Diet, the country's parliament, seen to be convened this autumn. They aim to enact the bill during the session.

At a meeting of the suprapartisan National Council on Social Security on Wednesday, a working group of the panel submitted a draft interim report on the matter.

The report included the planned consumption tax reduction and opposition parties' opinions objecting to the tax cut and calling for the early introduction of a cash benefit program instead.

Takaichi told the meeting that the government and the ruling bloc would swiftly consider their plan on stopgap measures, such as the consumption tax cut, to be taken before the introduction of a well-designed cash benefit program.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]