Japanese Survey Shows 76.5 Percent Worried After Post Sales Tax Economy

A total of 76.5 percent of respondents in a Kyodo News opinion poll said they are worried about the future of the Japanese economy following the planned consumption tax rate increase to 8 percent from 5 percent on April 1, while 22.4 percent said they are not worried.

The nationwide telephone survey conducted over the weekend also showed 65.7 percent plan to curb household expenses after the sales tax increase, while 33.0 percent do not plan to do so.

The poll also found 65.9 percent of respondents said they oppose a further sales tax increase to 10 percent, expected to be implemented in October 2015, against 28.6 percent who expressed support.

On the government’s controversial policy of lifting the self-imposed ban on the use of the right to collective self-defense by changing the constitutional interpretation, 57.7 percent said they oppose it, up 6.7 points from the previous survey a month ago, while 33.9 percent said they support it, down 5.0 points.

For decades, the government has maintained that Japan has the right to collective self-defense but cannot exercise it due to limits imposed by Article 9 of the pacifist Constitution, which forbids the use of force to settle international disputes, because doing so would go beyond the minimum necessary to defend the country.

Meanwhile, the approval rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to 56.9 percent, up 3.0 points from the previous survey in late February. The disapproval rating was 30.1 percent, up 0.4 point.

via Mainichi

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