Today some time (around midday or, if not then, around 6pm – both local Tokyo times) Japan’s prime minister Abe is set to announce that he is delaying the sales tax increase, and also to call a general election on December 14.
At a meeting on Monday night with his coaltion allies Abe is reported to have said
- “We have grasped the chance to rid ourselves of deflation … We must not give it up.”
Further, at that meeting Abe hinted at an election strategy of touting economic gains during his two years in power:
- Said Japan had added a million jobs under his government
- Wages were increasing
- Tourism is surging
- “Now a virtuous cycle in the economy is truly beginning to emerge”
Wall Street Journal (gated): Japan Weighs More Stimulus After Falling Into Recession
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Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party controls 295 of 480 seats in the Japanese lower house
Aides concede that the party isn’t likely to keep all of them in the early election
