Debate over proposed tax hikes will not keep the government from trying to trim the budget deficit, according to Kaoru Yosano, the new economic and fiscal policy minister.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has repeatedly said he will not raise taxes during his tenure, which ends in September 2006. But some economists have warned that discussing higher taxes ahead of implementing spending cuts would cause the momentum for fiscal reconsolidation to lose steam.
"We can't raise taxes in a way that would dampen efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit," Yosano said in an interview Tuesday, a day after receiving his new portfolio. "As lawmakers, we won't be able to ask for voter understanding on tax hikes until we make maximum efforts to cut the red ink."