JPY: Sankei Shimbun says consumption tax hike to be delayed - Nomura

Tomo Kinoshita, Research Analyst at Nomura, notes that the Sankei Shimbun today (28 March) reported that Prime Minister Abe has already decided to postpone the April 2017 consumption tax hike and will make an official announcement in May.

Key Quotes

“For the Abe government, postponement of the consumption tax hike has been one of its toughest and most important political decisions. The decision will be based on a wide variety of factors, but with the economy so weak as to require a large supplementary budget, the likelihood of a postponement has definitely increased.”