The chief of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development suggested Wednesday that Japan raise the consumption tax from the current 8 percent to "at least 15 percent" at some point in the future.
Speaking after a meeting in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other senior government officials, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria cited Japan's high level of public debt against gross domestic product and low sales tax rate compared with other developed countries.
Gurria said he recommended that Japan hike consumption tax to 10 percent as scheduled in April next year unless there is a major economic shock on the scale of the 2008 financial crisis or a major natural disaster.