Prime Minister Shinzo Abe risks triggering market turmoil should he fail to raise the consumption tax to 10 percent next year, his immediate predecessor warned.
The government needs to ride out the economic fallout from the first tax increase in April and then lift it further as stipulated by law, said Yoshihiko Noda, 57, a lawmaker in the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
"If it doesn't, it would imply that Japan's fiscal management strategy will collapse, and the market perception risks are huge," he said.
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