TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he will not rule out any options to cover the cost of disaster relief after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, including a tax hike or shelving plans to cut the country's corporate tax rate.
Kan told parliament he did not at present have in mind the possibility of a tax rise to meet the costs of disaster relief, but signalled that it was among the options the government would consider.
"We need to pursue various possibilities," Kan told parliament on Tuesday.
Kan also signalled that the government may scrap a planned cut in the corporate tax rate as it reviews policy priorities in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit northeast Japan on March 11.
"That is among the many options we will consider," Kan said.
With public debt already twice the size of Japan’s $5 trillion economy — the highest among industrialised nations — the government is wary of adding another big chunk to the debt pile as it looks for funds to pay for the huge cost of reconstruction.
Economists polled by Reuters last week forecast Japan’s biggest rebuilding effort since the post-World War Two period could cost the government as much as $250 billion, with a first emergency budget seen at around $62 billion.
Читайте об этом на www.kyivpost.ua.
