The government should draft a supplementary budget of at least ¥10 trillion or even ¥20 trillion to rebuild areas damaged by the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and raise the money by issuing government bonds instead of hiking the consumption tax, economists and financial experts said Monday.
"We should not raise taxes immediately because it would have a negative impact on the economy," said Eisuke Sakakibara, former vice minister of finance for international affairs at the Finance Ministry, at a press conference held at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
The debate so far has focused on whether the money should come from government bonds or higher taxes.