Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday his government will finalize a tax break for corporate investment by this fall in addition to its already announced growth strategy.
Abe, appearing on a television program aired by public broadcaster NHK, called the series of measures he had announced by Wednesday the first stage of his growth strategy and said the government will “start dealing with the second stage in fall” after the House of Councillors election in July.
“We will decide on a drastic investment tax reduction” to further stimulate corporate activities, Abe said without elaborating.
While declining to comment on the stock price fall following his announcement of the last batch of growth strategy measures, Abe said the growth steps unveiled so far have already improved corporate sentiment.
Abe said the upper house election will likely be held on July 21 and that his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner the New Komeito party “will together aim to win a majority.”
He said that with limited time available to prepare for the election, he is not thinking “at all” about aiming for a majority for his LDP alone.
On the agreement by the U.S. and Chinese leaders to strengthen bilateral relations in their summit in California, Abe said such a move will be “positive for the global peace and stability.”
For the United States, stronger ties with China will be as important as sustaining its close relationship with Japan and maintaining its military presence in Asia, Abe said.
