Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he is not considering a sales tax hike during his three-year term as president of the nation’s ruling party.
Instead, he aims to fund social security programs without changing the current tax rate of 10%. Ishiba, who was elected chief of the Liberal Democratic Party last month and became premier on Oct. 1, is looking to shore up support ahead of a general election on Oct. 27.
"I’m not considering reducing the consumption tax. For the time being, I’m not considering raising it, either," Ishiba said on Sunday during a debate with other party heads on public broadcaster NHK.
He added that for the time being, he is not considering the kind of one-off tax cut that his predecessor Fumio Kishida made this year to help households cope with persistent inflation.
"People are suffering from higher prices, but the government is also affected by them," he said. "We will have to look carefully at the revenue from consumption tax, corporate tax and income tax. I’m not thinking about such a tax cut right away."
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