Senior members of the ruling and opposition parties appeared on NHK's "Sunday Debate" and exchanged views on economic measures in response to rising prices.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Moriyama said, "Prices are really severe, and even if you go to the supermarket, you don't buy what you want, you buy what you can buy. The labor shortage is very severe, and it is becoming difficult to operate route buses in rural areas, so we must think about how to deal with it. We will consider it now and build up the budget, so it does not mean that the scale is ahead."
Komeito Deputy Chairman Kita said, "Support for households is absolutely necessary because high prices are putting pressure on households, and how to create an environment in which small and medium-sized enterprises can raise wages is a very important point. Policies that can comprehensively support SMEs in terms of budget, taxation, and finance must be the pillars of economic measures."
Azumi Diet Committee Chairman of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan said, "There is a fundamental problem in the background that the yen's depreciation is bouncing back to prices, and the Cabinet needs to take a stance of properly tackling the fundamental cure. We should only talk about election measures and organize them by shining a light on where they are truly necessary so that they do not waste taxpayer money."
Mr. Yanagigase, Chairman of the Japan Restoration Association, said, "Employment has not improved, the active job openings-to-applicants ratio remains low, and the output gap may be about 10 trillion yen to 15 trillion yen.
"It is necessary to raise wages, and by taxing the retained earnings held by large companies, we need to create a foundation for raising wages by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. We should provide direct support for the National Health Insurance and school lunch expenses, as well as reduce the consumption tax to 5%."
Acting Representative Otsuka of the People's Democratic Party said, "It is very important to decide how to deal with the increase in taxes rather than wages, and we should further develop the three-party consultations between the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito and the Democratic Party for the People that took place last year, including abolishing the provisional tax rate as a measure against gasoline prices."
Mr. Oishi, co-representative of the Reiwa Shinsengumi, said, "We need a tax reduction system that directly reaches the public and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises, including abolishing the consumption tax, eliminating the gasoline tax, and expanding tax credits to low-income earners."