TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s junior coalition partner Komeito will call on Monday for emergency measures to cushion people against the economic blow from rising prices of energy and food, the party’s leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, said on Friday.
“In the proposal, we’ll urge the government to look into compiling an extra budget” to fund the spending, he told Reuters in an interview.
He urged the Bank of Japan to maintain its massive stimulus programme “for a bit longer” to ensure a solid recovery in the economy.
“The current cost-push inflation isn’t a very good thing for the economy,” he said. “Responding to this with an interest rate hike could weaken Japan’s economic strength.”
The Komeito party is a junior member of Japan’s ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
