Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday allowed Democratic Party of Japan executives to revise part of a bill to hike the sales tax, aiming to draw an intraparty consensus on the issue, lawmakers said.
During a meeting with DPJ Policy Research Committee Chairman Seiji Maehara, Noda asked him to make a decision after thorough discussions with the government side, giving the chief DPJ policymaker a free hand on how to form an opinion within the ruling party, the lawmakers said.
DPJ executives are now hoping to declare an intraparty consensus Wednesday to allow the Cabinet to approve the bill next week to raise the 5 percent consumption tax to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in October 2015.