Winning the public's support to hike the consumption tax is the government's priority as their backing would force opposition parties to drop their stance against tax reforms, new Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada said.
The ruling Democratic Party of Japan is aiming to double the sales tax to 10 percent by October 2015 to help pay for swelling social security costs, a contentious and unpopular proposal.
"The most important thing is whether or not we will be able to explain (the reasons) to the public and persuade them that a consumption tax hike is inevitable," Okada said during a recent interview with media outlets.
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