(HARA
Eiji, PPPC President)
While
the media are full of reports regarding the Cabinet reshuffle, the more
important question is what kind of challenges will a new Cabinet will cope
with.
Prime
Minister Abe’s intension seems to be going back to the economic policy in this
autumn while setting aside national security legislation until the next
ordinary Diet session.
There
are a bunch of challenges in economic policy. The revised growth strategy
released in this June announced basic ideas in corporate tax reduction, GPIF, JA
reform, etc., which caused applausive reactions by the media. It indeed stepped
into particulars compared to the last year’s edition which merely entailed general
remarks, however, specific rates of corporate tax are to be discussed hereafter.
Likewise, regarding the JA reform, which is only a part of tasks in Japan’s
agriculture, any specific plans are to be discussed in the future; for example,
the strategy did not touch upon the longstanding goal of private company’s
entry into agriculture. In short, the revised growth strategy in June is still
immature both in terms of completeness in individual policy area and inclusiveness
as a whole, and its sequence simply depends on future efforts to expand and
deepen the discussions.
Meanwhile,
some government officials say this autumn’s most urgent political task is the
local revitalization. Needless to say, it is important to deliver the positive
results of Abenomics to every local economy. Yet, there indeed is a possibility
that the politics gets back to the traditional, budget-allocative style under
the slogan of “local revitalization” while leaving behind such demanding
challenges as regulatory reforms or tax reforms.
So,
let us note below a list of economic policy challenges the Cabinet should tackle
after this autumn.
1.
Tax
l What do with the
consumption tax (hike to 10%)
l Tax rate of corporate
tax reduction
l Others (expansion of
tax measures on contribution, women’s promotion, tax imposition on assets,
etc.)
2.
Regulatory
reforms
l Employment, foreigners
l Agriculture, forestry,
fishery
l Medical care, nursing
care, nursery school
l Education
l Infrastructure
(transport, water, energy, etc.)
l IT
l IR
3.
Framework
on companies and others
l Enhancement on
corporate governance (regulation on mutual-funding, etc.)
l GPIF reform
l Relooking on bankruptcy
legislation
l Relooking on
monetary-supervision administration
l Relooking on support
policy to mid- and small-sized enterprises
4.
Utilization
of infrastructure, private entry into governmentally-undertaken business
l Airport, road, water
l Privately-managed
public school
l National forest,
fishery license, radio license, etc.
5.
Energy
policy
l Electricity reform,
gas reform
l Reconstruction of
energy strategy including nuclear power
6.
Social
security reform
l Effective delivery of
medical care, nursery care and nursing services (overlapping with regulatory
reform)
l Relooking toward
sustainable delivery
7.
National
Strategic Special Zones, decentralization
l Local experiments to
advance efforts in the fields listed above (NSSZ)
l (in eye of) transference
of authority and tax/financial source to local governments
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