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PM Abe set to postpone consumption tax hike
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to postpone an April 2017 consumption tax hike from the current 8 percent to 10 percent, sources close to him said. He made the decision after deeming that the current world economic situation resembles that shortly before the economic crisis triggered by the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. The prime minister fears that if the sales tax were to be increased as scheduled, it could rapidly worsen the economic situation, making it difficult for Japan to overcome its prolonged deflation. Following the May 26 session of the Ise-Shima Summit in Mie Prefecture, Prime Minister Abe ... (full story)