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Japan sees double whammy of cost-push inflation, global
slowdown
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Anti-inflation steps sought to pull Japan out of recession
risk
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Gov't under pressure to spur spending as nationwide polls
loom
(Adds quote, detail, background)
By Yoshifumi Takemoto and Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida said on Friday he has instructed the ruling
coalition to propose a package of measures to beat rising prices
next week, in a move aimed at shoring up a fragile economic
recovery from COVID-19-induced doldrums.
The instruction was made during a meeting between government
officials and senior ruling party lawmakers one day after
revised data showed the world's third-biggest economy narrowly
averted a recession in the final quarter of last year.
Last week, Kishida urged the ruling Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) and small coalition ally Komeito to come up with measures
to cushion the blow of price hikes on households.
"Prices are rising mainly with energy and food," Kishida
told the meeting on Friday. "We will take additional steps to
counter price hikes to protect livelihoods and business
activity."
Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi called for inclusion of his
party's proposals in a package of measures, including special
grants aimed at curbing gas charges for households.
As part of measures against price hikes, which will be
compiled later this month, Japan is considering providing
further cash payouts worth 50,000 yen ($367) to low-income
households with children, NHK reported.
Demands from politicians will keep Kishida's government
under pressure to spend even more - which could eventually add
to an already huge public debt burden - particularly ahead of
elections such as local polls scheduled nationwide in April.
Komeito aims to draft its own proposals next week before the
government compiles measures including a repeat of the 50,000
yen payouts that were first adopted last year.
The payout per child will target single-parent households
with low incomes and those exempted from resident tax, NHK said.
Japanese households are grappling with intensifying
cost-of-living pressure amid elevated inflation for energy and
food.
Rounds of heavy stimulus spending have aggravated the
industrial world's heaviest public debt.
For now, the government is widely expected to tap emergency
reserves already earmarked for the next fiscal year's budget.
But further spending could strain Japan's debt woe.
The national debt is already more than twice as big as
annual economic output, making Japan an outlier when it comes to
the global trend of ending crisis-mode fiscal stimulus.
A main opposition party will also submit legislation to
parliament, offering cash handouts worth the same amount as the
ruling coalition.
($1 = 136.1000 yen) (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
