ANZ tip Suga as the next PM:
Japan's Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) will hold its leadership election on 14 September
Yoshihide Suga the strong favourite to beat Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida to be the next prime minister
Impact on policy:
- Regardless of who wins, there are unlikely to be any substantive changes to the policies of outgoing Prime Minister Abe. Each candidate supports 'Abenomics' and is keen to continue the close relationship between the government and the Bank of Japan
- With sizeable fiscal aid already in the pipeline, we do not see Abe's successor adding anything meaningful to this stimulus in the current fiscal year. Small targeted public works programs are a possibility if Japan's economy fails to gather greater momentum in coming months.
