Fumio Kishida’s first speech to the Diet as Japan’s 100th prime minister was an impassioned performance compared to his staid predecessor, but it did little to relieve investor concerns that his talk of redistribution and higher taxes are bad news for stocks.
Kishida’s "new form of Japanese capitalism” made up the bulk of his speech, in which he repeated campaign pledges to redistribute wealth and narrow the gap between rich and poor. His policies have begun to ring alarm bells among some investors in Tokyo, where the 225-issue Nikkei average earlier this week fell for eight days in a row, its worst streak since 2009.
The Nikkei daily reported on Thursday that discussions for raising investment income tax, levied on dividends and the sale of shares, would be included in the tax revision plans for the next fiscal year starting April, earlier than many anticipated.