This month's featured article
Make the Consumption Tax Hike an Opportunity to Steadily Raise the Wage Level
NAKAJIMA AtsushiChairman, RIETI
Less than two months are left before the consumption tax hike. But unlike the previous cases, the so-called last-minute demand surge has not been seen clearly to date. The current consumption trend of durable goods is unexpectedly flat.
This is partly due to sluggish consumption, which is caused by an uncertain economic outlook in response to the U.S.-China trade conflict. But in addition to that, we have to admit that the government's countermeasures against the consumption tax hike seem to be helping a lot. These countermeasures include the introduction of reduced tax rates, the free-of-charge preschool education program, reward points, premium vouchers, car tax cuts, and the expansion of mortgage tax breaks.
To read the full text
https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/special/policy-update/079.html
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