Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda brought in a new economic team Friday to show his commitment to reconstruct debt-ridden finances through higher taxes, but economists warn it will not be easy for the government to raise taxes when consumer sentiment is already on the skids.
The embattled Fukuda replaced his top finance and economic ministers as part of a Cabinet reshuffle in a bid to boost his low popularity.
Veteran Liberal Democratic Party politician Kaoru Yosano, 69, a reformist and an advocate of raising the consumption tax, returns to his old post of economic and fiscal policy minister he held under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He is also a supporter of an independent central bank.