Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has delayed the country’s planned sales tax rise for two and a half years, in a bid to avoid depressing already sluggish consumption.
Speaking just two months ago, Mr Abe insisted he would press ahead with the tax rise unless there was a natural disaster or economic blow as big as the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy — and then paved the way for deferral by telling G7 leaders that just such an alarmist scenario existed.
As a result, Mr Abe’s announcement to lawmakers that the increase to the sales tax would not be implemented until October 2019 caused scant surprise. However, it is the latest setback to the Abenomics growth programme and bid to diversify the country’s tax base.
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