For Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, now may not be the ideal time to become the nation’s leader, as steering a fragile economy will require a sensitive balancing act weighing economic activity against measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
That said, tough times come with opportunities. In fact, this could be the perfect time to push bold regulatory and administrative reforms, analysts say, which is increasingly looking to be what “Suganomics” might be all about. And the COVID-19 pandemic carved out the need for such reforms, especially in the area of digitalization of the public sector.
“Regulatory reform is my agenda. I intend to thoroughly work on this,” Suga said during a news conference on Monday after winning the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership race.