Japan in halfway to beat persistent deflation: Abe

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that the country's economic recovery has yet to be truly felt, pledging to make more efforts to fight deflation.

"We are only halfway through our efforts to beat persistent deflation," Abe said in the opening speech to an extraordinary Diet session.

Abe has vowed to revive Japan's economy with stimulus monetary policy since he took office last December.

Abe's assessment indicates that despite a recent increase in economic output, he feels there is more to be done to spread positive sentiment throughout the world's third largest economy.

He reiterated that the government would raise the sales tax to 8 percent from the current 5 percent as planned next April, while large-scale economic stimulus policies would be implemented to cope with any negative impact on household and business spending.

He has shifted focus to supporting companies willing to raise salaries and expand payrolls, with deregulation, tax breaks and other growth-friendly measures.

According to Abe, the government will also press for bills to establish special economic zones to boost business investment through deregulation, which is partly aimed at supporting Tokyo's hosting of the 2020 Summer Olympics in the areas of infrastructure development and other projects.

• China warns of consequences if Abe visits shrine
• Improvement of China-Japan relations rests with Tokyo
• Attempts to ignore history will be opposed
• Populism Abe's first concern as Japanese PM
• Japanese PM kicks off 4-nation trip on ties
• No remorse as Abe marks surrender
• Irresponsible attitudes toward history jeopardize Japan's future
• Abe to make ritual offering at Yasukuni
• Time to put an end to Japanese‘ghost worship'
• Tokyo's 'big leap' aimed at China

We Recommend

• 2013 Colour Me Rad 5K run held in Canada
• China's destroyer Qingdao sails out of Sydney Harbor
• Chinese tycoon aims to restore London's Crystal Palace
• Worst flooding hits Yuyao, 70% of downtown area underwater
• Game for the brave: 'Spiders' in Yandang Mountains
• Hungarian wingsuit flyer confirmed dead in Zhangjiajie
• Chinese screen goddesses from Beijing Film Academy
• Weekly Sports Photos
• World's most amazing yacht on display in Guangzhou