【日曜にちよう討論とうろん】参議院さんぎいん選挙せんきょ公示こうじ控ひかえ物価ぶっか高だか対策たいさくなどめぐり各党かくとう議論ぎろん

Ahead of the official announcement of the House of Councillors election on the 3rd of next month, policy leaders from each party appeared on NHKs Sunday Debate and exchanged views on measures against rising prices and other issues.

On the Sunday Debate on the 29th, policy leaders from ten ruling and opposition parties appeared.

LDP: “It’s easy to distribute benefits according to income, so it’s wise to start quickly.” LDP’s Deputy Policy Research Council Chairman Goto said, “While our basic approach is to grow the economy and overcome rising prices through wage increases, we also want to work on new measures such as additional benefits.”

Consumption tax is extremely important as a source of funding for social security.

If the consumption tax is reduced, there is the issue that high-income earners, who spend more, will benefit more from the tax cut, and even if a decision is made to reduce the tax this autumn, implementation will not take place until the second half of next fiscal year due to system modifications and other factors.

He said, Benefits are easy to distribute according to income and can be started more than a year earlier, so its a wise choice.

Rikken Minshutō Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan: “Temporarily reduce the consumption tax rate on food to zero; provide benefits within the fiscal year.” Shigetoku, head of the party’s policy research council, said, “Prices are rising, but wages are not increasing accordingly, so real wages are in negative territory.”

We need to increase the amount of money people have on hand, so the consumption tax rate on groceries should be temporarily set to zero percent.

We will provide a benefit of 20,000 yen per person within the fiscal year, make this taxable, and consider an income-based benefit and redistribution system where high-income earners return the amount to the national treasury in the form of taxes, he said.

Ishin: Immediate measure is to lower social insurance premiums. Japan Innovation Partys Policy Research Council Chairman Aoyagi said, As an immediate countermeasure against rising prices, we should lower social insurance premiums.

Ultimately, the most important thing is for wage increases to continue sustainably, so I want to achieve ongoing wage growth through regulatory reforms and other measures that will create a strong economic structure.

We need to implement policies that properly draw out the vitality of the private sector, he said.

Komeito: Its not about tax cuts or benefits; both are important. Komeitos Policy Research Council Chairman Okamoto said, Its not about choosing between tax cuts or benefits; both are important, and we will do everything we can.

The so-called 1.03 million yen annual income barrier will be raised to a minimum taxable income of 1.6 million yen, and by the end of the year, most people will receive a tax reduction of 20,000 to 40,000 yen.

On top of that, I also want to implement scholarship tax reductions.

As expected, providing benefits is extremely effective right now, so I would like to implement it.

People: Increasing take-home pay is the most important thing. The Policy Research Council Chairman of the Democratic Party for the People, Hamaguchi, said, Increasing take-home pay is the most important thing.

Raise the basic income tax deduction to 1.78 million yen, abolish the provisional gasoline tax rate, and temporarily suspend the collection of the renewable energy surcharge that is added to electricity bills.

We will uniformly reduce the consumption tax to 5% until real wages stably turn positive, he said.

The Communist Party: We will urgently reduce the consumption tax to a flat 5% and aim for its abolition. The Communist Partys Policy Chief Yamazoe said, The situation cannot be resolved with a one-time benefit payment, so we will urgently reduce the consumption tax to a flat 5% and aim for its abolition.

A permanent source of funding will be necessary, but if we stop giving tax cuts to large corporations, we can secure a considerable amount of funds.

If we reduce the consumption tax, household finances will improve, personal consumption will increase, and the economy will also grow, he said.

Reiwa: Abolishing the consumption tax as a direct measure against rising prices. Reiwa Shinsengumis co-leader Oishi stated, Bad policies must be stopped immediately, and we are calling for the abolition of the consumption tax.

If it is abolished, it will immediately serve as a measure against rising prices, and for a standard household, the amount of money they can spend will increase by about 300,000 yen per year, which will directly address rising prices and lead to long-term economic growth, he said.

Sansei Party leader Kamiya said, Rather than collecting and distributing, we should prioritize tax cuts.

Even if we only focus on measures against rising prices, it’s meaningless unless the economy grows.

The government should set an upper limit for the national burden ratio at around 35%, and for just five years, guarantee that people can use two-thirds of the money they earn, he said.

Conservative: Abolish the renewable energy surcharge along with zero consumption tax on food. Secretary-General Arimoto of the Japan Conservative Party said, We will implement zero consumption tax on food and abolish the renewable energy surcharge.

Our energy policy is too focused on renewable energy, so we should shift to newer, more stable, and cheaper power sources, he said.

Social Democratic Party: Zero consumption tax on food and early realization of a nationwide minimum wage of 1,500 yen. Deputy leader Otsubaki of the Social Democratic Party said, When talking about wage increases, are you considering the 40% of workers who are non-regular employees?

He stated, We should promptly implement zero consumption tax on groceries, a nationwide minimum wage of 1,500 yen, and halve workers social insurance contributions.