Japanese PM eyeing short-term achievements: Bank of Korea
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks to the media after he held a telephone call with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, last week. AP-Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
As new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will only be serving out the remainder of former prime Minister Shinzo Abe's term, he is expected to pursue policies that only achieve short-term goals, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Sunday.
In a weekly publication released by its international economy bureau, the central bank said while Suga has unveiled his top policy objectives, featuring “bold” regulatory reforms mainly to spur a faster coronavirus support response, it will be quite tough for him to achieve any “visible and meaningful outcomes” given his short term.
“Plus, Suga's various reform plans will also face opposition from lots of interested parties. Therefore, Suga is expected to focus more on shortlisted polices that will help him achieve short-term achievements. The establishment of a government body that will handle Japan's digital policies and reducing telephone bills could be policies that he is possibly eyeing,” the BOK said. Suga's term ends in September 2021.
The BOK report elaborated that Suga is interested in improving general household income through the cutting of telephone bills and increasing the minimum wage, something the Abe administration failed to do despite increased profits at top-tier Japanese firms.
Suga said earlier he will look at ways to support the restructuring of small and medium businesses to revive sluggish economic activity amid Japan's worse post-war economic downturn. “Suga's top economic policies lie in Abenomoics. However, in terms of the specifics, Suga is focusing on structural reform plans and leaning toward broadening relevant industries and infrastructure in which household income will be affected,” the central bank commented.
Suga vowed to stay on course with Abe's three key growth strategies: flexible fiscal policy, bold monetary easing and structural reform. But the Suga administration, as observed by the BOK, raised the stakes by advocating a 5 percent rise in the minimum wage to a national average of 1,000 yen ($10) per hour to lift productivity levels.
The BOK report also stressed Suga will try hard to tear down Japan's decades-long bureaucratic and administrative obstacles in line with his administration's drives for regulatory reform.