Japan PM seen tapping veterans for economic posts

JAPAN: Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda was set to bring in a new top economic team Friday of political veterans who could give fresh impetus to efforts to revamp Asia’s largest economy, reports said.

The embattled premier was ready to replace all three of his top finance and economic ministers as part of a cabinet reshuffle aimed at shoring up his plunging popularity, according to local media.

Bunmei Ibuki, 70, the secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, will become finance minister of Asia’s largest economy in a reshuffle Friday, the Fuji and Asahi television networks said.

Fukuda on Friday stressed the need for “structural changes to the economy” to cope with an ageing population and low birthrate, Ibuki told reporters after meeting with the premier.

Veteran lawmaker Kaoru Yosano, 69, a reformist who advocates raising the consumption tax to rebuild Japan’s debt-ridden finances, is likely to return to his old post of economic and fiscal policy minister, Kyodo News reported.

“Naming Yosano for the post means that the prime minister endorses tighter spending and higher taxes for financial reform,” said Yasuyoshi Masuda, a professor of economics at Toyo University.

“Ibuki was a former finance ministry bureaucrat, so I believe he also prefers raising taxes,” he added. “Yosano and Ibuki will take a similar position in that sense.”

The Asahi television network said senior LDP party official Toshihiro Nikai, 69, may be in line for the post of minister of economy, trade and industry, a position he has held in the past.

Ibuki, a former finance ministry bureaucrat, has a degree in economics from prestigious Kyoto University.

He has held various roles including director of the finance ministry’s treasury division, labour minister and education minister.

Tokyo, Friday, AFP