Tokyo 12 August : Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday said he will instruct officials in the government to implement measures to curb inflation since the rising costs are affecting both consumers and businesses. On the heels of an upcoming cabinet reshuffle, which has led to a decline in popular support, Kishida said price hikes for food and energy items, in particular, are having an “huge impact” on consumers and companies as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The Japanese leader has said that new measures to curb inflation will be the top priority of his new cabinet.
He informed a meeting of the government that officials would be ordered on August 15th to “seamlessly” take the necessary steps in place to combat price increases for fuel, raw materials and grains.
“Bread and noodles made from wheat, are vital items in our lives.It is essential that their prices remain stable,” Kishida was quoted as saying in the meeting that was attended by new cabinet ministers as well as business leaders.
“I will direct officials to increase assistance by catering to the requirements of each region, and to take further actions focusing on energy as well as food items that comprise the majority of the latest price increases,” said the Prime Minister.
Japan isn’t being hit by inflation as badly as the United States or some European countries, and a few companies in Japan have been trying not to transfer increasing costs to their customers due to the weak economy.
The firms have been able to achieve this by either absorbing the higher costs themselves or through means of the government’s subsidies however economists have said whatever the case, such measures will not last forever and that consumers are currently faced with the rising cost of everyday items.
Kishida stated that following the reshuffle of his cabinet on Wednesday however, that reserves funds of 5.5 trillion yen ($41 billion) could be accessed and used for measures to take care of with the continuing negative consequences of the pandemic Covid-19 as well as increasing inflation.
The approval rating of the cabinet of Kishida reached 51.0 percent in the latter part of July, making it the lowest ever, amid concerns about the Liberal Democratic Party’s links with the Unification Church, in the aftermath of the murder of the previous Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
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