Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda wants to call a snap general election if parliament does not approve bills needed for a sales tax increase, the Sankei newspaper reported Tuesday.
Japan is saddled with public debt twice the size of its $5 trillion economy and Noda wants to double the sales tax to 10 percent by October 2015 to help fund its ballooning social welfare programs.
The government plans to submit bills necessary for the tax increase to parliament by March, but passage is uncertain as combative opposition parties can use their control of the upper house to block legislation.
Noda, a fiscal hawk, told a former prime minister last month that he wanted to call a general election if the bills do not pass, the conservative Sankei newspaper reported, citing sources close to Noda.
An election for the powerful lower chamber must be held by late 2013. (Reuters)
↧