TOKYO (REUTERS) - Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday (March 15) that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hike the sales tax as planned next year, barring any major financial crises or natural disasters.
A prominent Abe advisor said last week that Abe should delay indefinitely the planned increase in the sales tax to 10 per cent from the current 8 per cent in April 2017 - or even cut the levy, given its potential impact on already sluggish private consumption.