The government should implement additional tax cuts worth 5 trillion yen because there is an urgent need to stimulate consumption in the current economic situation, the head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday.
Kosaku Inaba, chairman of the JCCI, said the government needs to implement an additional economic package worth 10 trillion yen for the next fiscal year, half of which should be in the form of tax cuts.
Despite austere budget conditions and plans to carry out fiscal reform, the government should deal with the issues flexibly, he said. Inaba said household income and spending during the current fiscal year have been affected by the consumption tax hike last April as well as other factors.
Reduced interest income, reductions in overtime pay, increased unemployment and higher charges for public services such as transportation and telephone services have also had a negative affect on households, to the tune of some 4.1 trillion yen, he said. Meanwhile, estimated losses from lower values of stocks and real estate will total 28.3 trillion yen, he said.