LDP President Hopefuls Backward-Looking on Fiscal Consolidation

Politics

Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)--Candidates in the Japanese ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election, in a debate on Monday, made backward-looking statements one after another on efforts to restore the country's fiscal health, which is currently at one of the worst levels in the developed world.

"We must not water down growth by focusing on the primary balance for the central and local governments," former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, 43, said during the debate held in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, by the LDP's Youth Division and Women's Affairs Division.

Koizumi added that once he takes office as prime minister, he will immediately order the implementation of fiscal spending-backed measures to tackle high prices.

Among eight other party lawmakers who filed their candidacies for the Sept. 27 election to decide the successor of outgoing LDP President and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, economic security minister Sanae Takaichi said, "Reducing the budget deficit would not increase national wealth."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, 63, said during the debate: "The economy is the key to public finances. We will reduce the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product and secure confidence."

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