From the Nikkei this Friday morn in Tokyo:
- The debate over raising the consumption tax has grown more contentious
- A key cabinet member apparently leaning toward a no-go even as budget hawks insist on staying the course
- Abe insists that he remains neutral. Aides expect him to decide after taking stock of revised third-quarter gross domestic product figures due out Dec. 8.
- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga is regarded as the foremost figure among government officials and ruling coalition lawmakers who favor postponing the increase. Suga, who argues that Abe’s government is doing all it can to revive the economy and end deflation, recently ordered an estimate of the fiscal and financial market consequences of holding off.
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The debate continues in Tokyo. I din’t think even Abe would consider crossing Suga …. but plenty of time before the final decision is made.
