Today some time (around midday or, if not then, around 6pm – both local Tokyo times) Japan’s prime minister Abe is set to announce that he is delaying the sales tax increase, and also to call a general election on December 14.

At a meeting on Monday night with his coaltion allies Abe is reported to have said

  • “We have grasped the chance to rid ourselves of deflation … We must not give it up.”

Further, at that meeting Abe hinted at an election strategy of touting economic gains during his two years in power:

  • Said Japan had added a million jobs under his government
  • Wages were increasing
  • Tourism is surging
  • “Now a virtuous cycle in the economy is truly beginning to emerge”

Wall Street Journal (gated): Japan Weighs More Stimulus After Falling Into Recession

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party controls 295 of 480 seats in the Japanese lower house

Aides concede that the party isn’t likely to keep all of them in the early election