Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi met Wednesday to discuss whether to raise the consumption tax as scheduled and how to approach an Upper House election planned for this summer.
Abe, president of the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules in coalition with its junior partner Komeito, is still deliberating whether to raise the levy by 2 percentage points to 10 percent in April next year amid a trend of sluggish personal consumption.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at Abe's office in Tokyo, Yamaguchi reiterated his view that the tax should be raised as scheduled.
"The prime minister's thoughts (on the hike) are no different from ours," Yamaguchi said.
Abe said during a Diet session the same day he aims to raise the consumption tax as scheduled, barring a major economic shock on the scale of the collapse of Lehman Brothers or a major earthquake.
But he also said he will make a final decision on the hike in a "timely and appropriate" manner.
Abe admitted that the economy has been weaker than expected since the tax rate was raised from 5 percent to 8 percent in April 2014.
During the session opposition Democratic Party leader Katsuya Okada told the prime minister the tax hike should be postponed by two years to April 2019.
Yamaguchi told reporters he and Abe did not discuss the possibility of calling a Lower House general election to coincide with the upcoming Upper House poll.