LDP, CDP Officials Side by Side Voice Caution on Tax Cut

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)--The policy chiefs of both the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in a television program on Sunday, expressed caution on a possible consumption tax cut.

While calls for a consumption tax cut as a measure to deal with rising prices are growing in both the ruling and opposition camps, the LDP and CDP policy chiefs stressed the need to consider a tax cut along with ways to finance it.

"The consumption tax is an important revenue source that largely covers social security costs," said the LDP's Itsunori Onodera. "We need to discuss reform of both the tax and social security systems in the Diet."

Asked whether the government should compile a supplementary budget, Onodera said, "We will first do what we can under the (initial) fiscal 2025 budget."

The CDP's Kazuhiko Shigetoku said that his party has only begun discussions on the consumption tax. "The CDP's basic stance is to pursue a responsible fiscal policy," he noted.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]