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MNI POLICY: Suga Wins LDP Head Election; To Be Japan's Next PM

(MNI) Tokyo
TOKYO (MNI)

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was elected as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party on Monday, meaning he is certain to be named as next prime minister at an extraordinary Diet session on Wednesday.

Suga beat Fumio Kishida, currently the LDP's policy chief, and Shigeru Ishiba, former Defense Minister, receiving 377 out of 534 votes; 394 lawmakers and 141 rank-and-file members holding an equal number of votes.

The LDP-led coalition controls both houses of parliament, which elects the prime minister and the next leader of the party will succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced his resignation in September over health reasons.

Suga, who has served as Abe's right-hand man for nearly eight years, has signaled he would stay the course on aggressive monetary easing -- one of the three arrows of Abenomics, and he is sensitive to the yen's rise. He has backed Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, suggesting little change in policy.

Suga has also emphasized that his government would give priority to economic recovery and would consider another cash distribution, if needed, with the immediate priority extending the work protection subsidy program.

Suga also vowed to amend the Small and Medium Enterprise Law, stressing he will prioritize efforts to help smaller businesses. He said he is considering a new policy framework to promote the consolidation of the SME sector.

He also said that the nation's consumption tax needs to be raised beyond the current 10% in the future, although clarifying that there was no need in the next decade.

MNI Tokyo Bureau | +81 90-2175-0040 | hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com
MNI Tokyo Bureau | +81 90-2175-0040 | hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

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