To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page.
This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies.
Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a summit discussion on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, at the Stanford, California, U.S., November 17, 2023.
Jiji Press
15:35 JST, November 23, 2023
TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday ordered his ruling Liberal Democratic Party to hold talks with two other parties on the possibility of a temporary cut in gasoline tax.
Kishida instructed LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda to hold talks with his counterparts from Komeito, the LDP’s coalition partner, and the opposition Democratic Party for the People on the possibility of lifting the freeze on the so-called trigger clause to enable the tax cut.
The instruction came after DPFP leader Yuichiro Tamaki demanded the lifting of the freeze at a parliamentary meeting earlier on Wednesday. Tamaki sought to remove the freeze after subsidies aimed at curbing prices for oil for fuel expire at the end of April next year.
In response, Kishida said that the ruling coalition and the DPFP will consider the possibility of lifting the freeze.
Hagiuda told reporters after receiving the instruction from Kishida that he is willing to consider a wide range of options that can replace the subsidies.
Some government and ruling coalition officials remain cautious about removing the freeze on the trigger clause. The three parties failed to reach agreement on the matter when they previously discussed it in March last year.
