Ishiba pledges rice price rollback but rules out tax cut
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged Wednesday to take necessary steps to lower rice prices that have doubled over the past year, but repeatedly rejected opposition calls to cut Japan's consumption tax to support households.
During a one-on-one parliamentary debate with opposition leaders, Ishiba said he would, as soon as possible, bring rice prices down to below 4,000 yen per 5 kilograms from their average current level of 4,268 yen in early May, vowing to stake his job on achieving the target.
The price of the Japanese staple has roughly doubled from a year earlier, as the grain is in short supply due to a poor harvest, while demand has grown in the wake of booming inbound tourism, with more foreign visitors enjoying rice-based dishes at restaurants.
"I believe rice prices should be in the 3,000 yen range, since staying in the 4,000 yen range can't be right. We will bring them down to that target at the earliest possible date," said Ishiba, who has been compelled to act to curb the negative impact of inflation.
Asked by an opposition leader if he will take responsibility as prime minister if the target is missed, Ishiba said, "I think I should," while government efforts, such as releasing emergency stockpiles, have shown little sign of pushing down rice prices.
Ishiba lashed out at the opposition's request to reduce the consumption tax rate as a "tactic to woo voters" ahead of a House of Councillors election this summer -- an opportunity for the public to deliver a verdict on the government's economic policies.
"You should outline as a package how you are going to make up for the expected drop in tax revenue and cope with social security," Ishiba said, although he did not unveil new measures to soften the impact of rising prices.
Ishiba, meanwhile, failed to present concrete steps to tackle the adverse effects of higher U.S. tariffs by President Donald Trump, even as Yoshihiko Noda, who heads the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, took aim at the government's lack of urgency and preparedness.
The main opposition party is seeking to scrap the consumption tax on food items for one year to help struggling households, using unused government funds to cover the shortfall. Noda served as prime minister for about a year through December 2012.
In the opposition camp, the Democratic Party for the People and the Japan Innovation Party are also calling for a cut in the consumption tax rate, currently set at 8 percent for food and beverages and 10 percent for most other items.
The Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party, has expressed support for reducing the consumption tax on food items.
© KYODO
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
2 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japan brokerages donating shareholder perks to help kids in poverty
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese securities firms are donating the food and beverage gifts they receive as shareholder perks through their trading activities to nonprofit organizations to support children living in poverty amid inflation. The Japan Securities Dealers Association started the program in 2020, and around 2,300 donations had been made by March this year. Under the program, a list of shareholder perks is presented to registered organizations channeling the goods to recipients each week and the organizations then convey their requests to the securities firms. As of April, 61 companies and 48 organizations had registered with the program. Around 11 tons of rice and 8,600 liters of beverages have been donated, with rice and ready-made foods such as curry among the popular products. IwaiCosmo Securities Co. previously distributed shareholder perks to younger employees via a lottery as part of its welfare program, but now donates rice and canned goods to organizations. The Osaka-based brokerage has received feedback that its donations were delivered to single-mother households and served at a gathering of children. "We feel it is significant that goods are being used by people who really need them," a company official said. Monex Inc. has been donating shareholder perks to various organizations across the country since 2024, with an official saying it intends to continue using the program as it is difficult to find recipients on its own. NPO Bridge for Smile, which supports children and young people who cannot rely on their parents, receives donations of food and disaster stockpiles on a regular basis through the program. "As there are some people who only have one meal a day due to soaring rice prices, we are grateful that it helps them survive," said Ryuta Suzuki, a member of the group.
Japan Times
2 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan to hold WWII panel discussions after summer Upper House election
The government will hold expert panel discussions on World War II after this summer's Upper House election, government sources have said. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration was considering setting up the panel as early as April. The start of the review will be delayed significantly as the government is busy tackling many important issues including tariff negotiations with the United States and soaring rice prices, the sources said Friday. The Ishiba administration is unlikely to release a government statement to mark this year's 80th anniversary of the country's surrender in the war. Previously, the government considered having the panel release a report on the outcome of its discussions toward the Aug. 15 anniversary. With the postponement of the review, the release will also be delayed. Ishiba told the Upper House Budget Committee on Monday that he is thinking about various possibilities over the way civilian control should be, based on lessons from the war. He was eager to show the world Japan's determination to remain a peaceful country. An official statement marking the war landmark was released by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama at the 50th anniversary, Junichiro Koizumi at the 60th and Shinzo Abe at the 70th. Abe's 2015 statement expressed the government's intention to end its diplomacy of apologizing for its past, saying that future generations should not be forced to keep apologizing. Some lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, mainly conservatives, are cautious about rekindling history issues by releasing a fresh statement.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Billion-Dollar Battery Plant Pauses Construction Amid Electric Vehicle and Tariff Uncertainty
Daily News via AP/FILE AESC Group CEO Shoichi Matsumoto speaks at the 'Topping Out' structural completion milestone ceremony for the 1.6 million-square-foot AESC gigafactory being constructed in the Kentucky Transpark in Bowling Green, Ky., on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Japanese company has halted construction on a $1.6 billion factory in South Carolina to help make batteries for electric BMWs, citing 'policy and market uncertainty.' While Automotive Energy Supply Corp. didn't specify what those problems are, South Carolina's Republican governor said the company is dealing with the potential loss of federal tax breaks for electric vehicle buyers and incentives for EV businesses as well as tariff uncertainties from President Donald Trump's administration. 'What we're doing is urging caution — let things play out because all of the these changes are taking place,' Gov. Henry McMaster said. AESC announced the suspension in construction of its plant in Florence on Thursday, 'Due to policy and market uncertainty, we are pausing construction at our South Carolina facility at this time,' the company's statement said. AESC promised to restart construction, although it didn't say when, and vowed to meet its commitment to hire 1,600 workers and invest $1.6 billion. The company said it has already invested $1 billion in the Florence plant. The battery maker based in Japan also has facilities in China, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany. In the U.S., AESC has a plant in Tennessee and is building one in Kentucky. The statement didn't mention any changes with other plants. The South Carolina plant is supposed to sell battery cells to BMW, which is building its own battery assembly site near its giant auto plant in Greer. BMW said the construction pause by AESC doesn't change its plans to open its plant in 2026. AESC has already rolled back its South Carolina plans. They announced a second factory on the Florence site, but then said earlier this year that their first plant should be able to handle BMW's demand. That prompted South Carolina officials to withdraw $111 million in help they planned to provide. The company is still getting $135 million in grants from the South Carolina Department of Commerce and $121 million in bonds and the agency said a construction pause won't prompt them to claw back that offer. South Carolina is investing heavily in electric vehicles. Volkswagen-owned Scout Motors plans to invest $2 billion and hire 4,000 people for a plant to build its new electric SUVs scheduled to open in 2027. The state has for decades made big bets on foreign manufacturers like BMW, Michelin and Samsung that have paid off with an economic boom this century, but there is uneasiness that Trump's flirtation with high tariffs might stagger or even ruin those important partnerships. McMaster told people to relax as state and business leaders are talking to Trump's administration and things will work out. 'I think the goal of the president and the administration is to have robust economic growth and prosperity and there is no doubt there has to be changes made in our international trade posture and President Trump is addressing that,' McMaster told reporters Thursday.
