Japan may again postpone a decision on raising taxes to help cover rising defense spending, a senior ruling coalition official has said, raising more questions about how Tokyo intends to pay for a historic expansion of its military capabilities.
¡°It would be wonderful if we could make a decision this year, but if we can¡¯t it doesn¡¯t mean that we will stop increasing defense spending and boosting our defense capabilities,¡± Mitsunari Okamoto, the policy chief of Komeito, the coalition partner of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba¡¯s Liberal Democratic Party, said in an interview.
As part of a five-year defense buildup launched in 2022 that¡¯s projected to cost ?43 trillion ($280 billion), the government has said it will raise personal income, corporate and tobacco taxes to cover the added costs. The increase in outlays would push defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product from just over 1% previously.
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