Finance Minister Katayama Says Funding for Food and Beverage Consumption Tax Cut Will Be Secured Without Relying on Special Deficit Bonds
Macro
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said at a press conference after an extraordinary cabinet meeting on the 15th that funding for a consumption tax cut on food and beverages will be secured "without relying on special deficit bonds, so as to gain the market's trust." At the extraordinary cabinet meeting that day, the government approved a tax reform outline aimed at lowering the consumption tax rate on food and beverages, which also includes the introduction of a support payment system targeting low- and middle-income earners. Katayama said the necessary legislative measures would be taken "as promptly as possible" and stressed that the budget compilation process will be reformed. She explained that while monitoring tax revenue trends, the government will pursue "every possible review" on both the spending and revenue sides, and even as it steadily lowers the debt-to-GDP ratio, it will scrutinize the fiscal scale that can be sustained, saying "we will flesh out the specifics of full-year government bond issuance and other figures while giving consideration to securing market trust." She also said the government will push ahead on a "zero-based" basis with efforts to secure further revenue, including reviews of tax breaks and subsidies as well as non-tax revenues.
