Japan PM Abe says will raise sales tax

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to proceed with next year’s scheduled sales tax hike “by all means” and take steps to ease an expected hit to consumption from the higher levy, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Abe said his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won last year’s lower house election with a pledge to use proceeds from the sales tax increase to make Japan’s social welfare system more sustainable.

“We must accomplish this by all means,” Abe said in an interview with the economic daily, referring to his plan to raise the tax to 10 per cent from 8 per cent in October next year.