Fiscal dove Takaichi joins race for leadership of Japan’s ruling party
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Ms Sanae Takaichi said she would hold a press conference on Sept 19 to explain her policies.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO – Japanese veteran lawmaker and fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi said on Sept 18 that she would run in the ruling party’s leadership ballot on Oct 4 to replace outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Ms Takaichi, who hopes to become Japan’s first female prime minister, is seen as one of the front runners, along with Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
Ms Takaichi said she would hold a press conference on Sept 19 to explain her policies. She has opposed the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hikes and has called for increased spending to reflate the fragile economy.
Prime Minister Ishiba announced his resignation in September to take responsibility for a series of bruising election losses, after being in office for less than a year.
The other candidates are Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, former foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi and former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi.
Mr Hayashi said on Sept 18 that he would continue some of the policies pursued by the Ishiba administration, including efforts to broaden wage hikes among smaller companies so households can weather the pain from rising living costs.
“I’d like to take steps so Japan sustainably achieves real wage growth around 1 per cent,” Mr Hayashi told a news conference to announce his policies.
However, he cautioned against cutting Japan’s consumption tax rate, saying the levy was a key source of revenue to fund social welfare costs for the country’s rapidly ageing population.
Mr Hayashi distanced himself from “Abenomics”-style fiscal and monetary stimulus pursued by the late premier Shinzo Abe to pull Japan out of deflation.
“Abenomics was an effective policy at the time,” said Mr Hayashi, adding the economy has emerged from the severe downturn that required such stimulus measures.
“The BOJ has shifted policy and we’re now seeing interest rates rise. The economy has moved to a new phase,” he added.
Another candidate, Mr Motegi, told a separate news conference that he would negotiate with the United States for a further cut in tariffs if circumstances permit.
Mr Koizumi was the front runner at 23.8 per cent in a poll by Japan’s Jiji news agency on who would be best suited to be prime minister, followed by 21.0 per cent for Ms Takaichi. Mr Hayashi and Mr Motegi both came in third at 5.9 per cent, according to the poll released on Sept 18. REUTERS
