Takaichi presses ahead with tax cut plan despite doubters

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae has endorsed cutting the consumption tax on foodstuffs to 1%, and instructed LDP tax chief Onodera Itsunori to work towards an agreement with skeptics among with opposition parties and within the LDP.
• The government’s need for votes in the upper house means that the opposition cannot be ignored, but Takaichi has staked too much on the tax cut to back down in the face of opposition.