The government will consider various measures, including tax cuts, to deal with deepening financial damage from the coronavirus outbreak, economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Tuesday amid growing debate on the possibility of cutting the consumption tax.
A group of ruling party lawmakers proposed last week that the government temporarily eliminate altogether the 10 percent consumption tax and prepare a ¥30 trillion supplementary budget to address the hit to economic growth from the health crisis.
Although extreme, the proposal highlights the seriousness of problems facing the world's third-biggest economy and has not been completely shot down by senior officials like Nishimura.