TOKYO (Sputnik) — Earlier, the Japanese government had planned to raise its consumption tax rate to 10 percent, up from the current 8 percent, in April next year, a date set during the previous postponement in 2015.
"We will stick to aims of economic recovery by 2020. Therefore, a decision has been taken to postpone the consumption tax increase for 30 months, until the deadline of October, 2019," Abe told reporters.
Abe's announcement came following a cabinet meeting after a no-confidence motion was turned down in the Japanese lower house.
Japan's consumption tax was introduced in 1987, when it amounted to 3 percent. Proposed increases have caused concern of adverse effects on the country's consumer spending and economy. After negative growth in late 2015, Japan barely avoided a recession in the first quarter of 2016, its GDP increasing 0.4 percent.
In 2012, Abe announced measures to halt economic stagnation, including structural reforms, monetary easing and fiscal stimulus. The plan, dubbed Abenomics, was introduced after Abe’s election in December 2013. It has been described as a failure by the opposition.
