EXCLUSIVE: Private-Sector Reps to Urge Govt to Communicate with Markets

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Private-sector members of the Japanese government’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy are set to urge the government to communicate appropriately with financial markets, Jiji Press learned Thursday. In their upcoming recommendations, the private-sector members will call on the government to closely monitor stock, currency and other markets, in order to promote Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s responsible and proactive fiscal policy. The members will submit these recommendations at the council’s first meeting since Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the Feb. 8 general election. The move comes after Takaichi’s announcement in late January of a proposal to lower the consumption tax rate on food items to zero for two years fueled fiscal concerns among market participants, accelerating a rise in government bond yields and the yen’s weakening. The private-sector members will underscore the need to clarify the details of Takaichi’s responsible and proactive fiscal policy. They will also emphasize that it is an urgent task to boost Japan’s potential economic growth through public and private investment. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]