after work had b beg. . hello and welcome to nhk "newsline," i'm ross mihara in tokyo. japanese prime minister shinzo abe has officially announced his plan to postpone a consumption tax hike. it was scheduled for next april. now it's been pushed back by two and a half years. abe says the decision is necessary to avoid falling into another economic crisis.

>> translator: today the session of the diet adjourned. the legislation and budget passed during the diet session will expand the benefit to those taking off from jobs. 100% support to infertility treatment, increase the benefits to single-parent households which will all help to realize a society in which all citizens participate actively. what we want to do is to put a brake on the trend of society with few children and create a society where everyone can find meaningful life to pave the way for a future where all citizens actively participate, we want to make a big step forward.

i think this diet session was to make a challenge to the future. on the other hand, the economy of emerging countries and developing countries are slowing down, and the global economy is facing a huge risk. this notion was shared by the group of 7 nations' leaders when we met in ise-shima last week. the kumamoto earthquake has hit hard the economy and lives of the people, including tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing industries in kumamoto. in the worst-case scenario we

may return to long time of deflation. so, now is the time to rev up the engine of abenomics to maximum to get rid of such risks. to get ourselves in one, we must maximize the philosophy. and wihether to accelerate the abenomics or whether we should go back. this will be the biggest issue of the upcoming upper house election. i am determined to lead an implement the agreement at the ise-shima summit, meeting as a host nation.

to shoot the three arrows of abenomics with all-out force once again, i am determined to take comprehensive and bold economic measures once again this autumn. the most important thing is to implement a reform to rouse private investment which generates future growth. i will aim for early effectuation of tpp and create new investment opportunities by spreading to the world a fair economic zone such as japan e.u. or epa which is evaluated highly.

i will utilize the zero interest rate environment to rouse the bold private investment which looks into the future. also, with new low-interest rate loans, we will mutt in place 21st century type infrastructure, we will implement earlier the maglev and by accelerating the new shinkansen bullet trains we hope to create a regional recreation corridor which would create one economic zone. and we will also increase the nursing care facilities. and we will make investment in which we would realize to create

a society which all people can actively participate. and the most important thing or most important challenge is to make a reform on the labor system, which allows a diverse way of working. we must try to get rid of working for long hours, and we should also try to guarantee a fair treatment or equal treatment regardless of the employment system. and i would also realize a same wage for same type of labor. and also, i would try to get rid of a non-regular employment and try to prop up the entire income of the people. with such reforms we will try to

deal with the victims of the kumamoto earthquake, which is still -- where still the earthquake is continuing and we will try to come up with the reconstruction measures which would meet with the needs of the kumamoto and hard-hit areas. and in order to cooperate with the g7 nations and in order to enforce the demand of the worldwide, we will make bold investment in areas which would contribute to the future growth. for example, artificial intelligence, or robots. we will make technological reformation from japan and also make economic measures which support the domestic demand and also i would talk about the planned consumption tax hike,

which is scheduled to take place in april next year. one and a half years ago at the general election, i said that i would create a situation which is necessary to enable -- to enable the consumption tax hike which is to take place from april next year, and i have been pushing through the abenomics. right now the job availability rate has reached a very high level for the first time in 24 years. and this is not just in the open areas. and if you look at by the places of the employment, starting from hokkaido to okinawa, in all of the 47 prefectures, this job availability rate has exceeded 1.0. and this is the very first time

in history. we have been able to create a situation, a state, where everyone has a job. where a job is available for everyone in all parts of the country. ever -- the regular employment has been declining but last year it has turned to an increase for the first time in eight years and has succeeded 260,000 people. and the employment rate of the high school students reached the level for the first time in 24 years, and the employment

rate of the university graduate students has reached a record level. and also, we are seeing a decrease in the companies going under, or the small and medium and small sized companies. and this has decreased by 30%. and this is -- the decrease is realized for the first time in 25 years. and also, the increase in the income according to the survey, including the smes. last year and also two years ago, and also this year, for three years in a row we have been able to realize the highest level of the wage hike in the 21st century. this is the highest level in this century, and we have been able to realize this. and also, the wages of the

part-time workers is also at the record level. and it's not just the wage of the people working for major companies. the wages for the part-timers have also increased at a record level. so please, this is also very important. we have been able to create jobs and also increased income. i understand that we still have much more to do, but abenomics is coming up with results. however, over the last year and a half, the world economy has changed with greater speed than we expected. it is even murkier than before.

the largest concern is that we are seeing a slowdown in china and other emerging countries. oil and other product prices have fallen faster than during the lehman shock. development has also fallen. so emerging countries have seen their economies damaged. this means that the global economy could lose its growth engine. global demand could stagnate. this is concerning as it undermines the principle of growth. the world economy -- economic experts have shared a warning.

nobel laureate professor st stigletz and bergmann have said along with other experts from europe and asia and the u.s. have shared their opinions wuit us. many have said that, due to the slowdown in global demand, there could be a further slowdown of the economy this year and next year. the g7 leaders have gathered for a frank discussion over this risk at the summit in ise-shima. as a result, in order to avoid falling into the new crisis, we

agreed to appropriately employ all policy measures, and that was incorporated into the leaders' declaration. the risk that we face is completely different from the lehman shock-like financial instability. however, we must learn from that experience. in 2009, the japanese economy posted a negative growth. however, in the previous year, in 2008, even the imf projected a growth rate close to 4% so ththat risk was not well understood. even when they are imminent, it

is hard to recognize the signs. a forecast for 4% increased growth can suddenly be overturned to negative growth. this is how terrifying the crisis can be when risk becomes reality. when it comes to the future of the world economy, i am certainly not pessimistic. however, we must prepare against the risks. there is a clear and present risk that we must recognize adequately, and in order to avoid falling into a crisis, we must take firm steps. based on the recent g7 agreement and shared view of the risk, japan will execute

accelerated structural refororm and fiscal spending and fully use all available policies at our disposal. in doing so. because raising the consumption tax could weaken domestic consumption, i would decided that the consumption tax increase should be postponed. now, i would like to discuss how long the delay will be for. in china, issues such as excessive inventory and non-performing loans show that structural issues have yet to be addressed. it could take more time for emerging economies to recover. that being the case, there is a

concern that global demand may stagnate for quite some time. therefore, i felt that the tax hike should be deferred as long as possible. however, i am not going to give up my promise on fiscal reform. japan must secure international trust anan additionally, we are responsible for passing on our social welfare system to the next generation. the abe administration takes a firm stance on this. our goal for fiscal rehabilitation in fiscal year 2020 will be maintained, so the final and last opportunity to meet that goal, which is octctor

of 2019, is when the consumption tax will be raised to 10%. thereby meaning that the tax hike will be delayed by 30 months. at that time we'll introduce a reduced tax rate for essential goods. thanks to abenomics, over the last three years tax revenues for the central and regional governments have increased by 21 trillion yen. by deferring the tax hike two and a half years we will accelerate abenomics to the next level. by doing so, we will further increase our tax revenue, and by doing so, we will aim to achieve going into the black for japan's primary balance in fiscal year 2020. a year and a half ago, in dissolving t the lowower house, stood here in my own words i

referred to the tax hike to 10%. and clearly stated that the tax hike to 10% will not be postponed again. in the absence of an event comparable to the collapse of the lehman brothers or a major earthquake, as planned, the consumption tax would be raised to 10% in april of 2017. i have repeatedly made this promise. the world economy faces a major risk. however, to be hohonest at thih point in time we have not comee across a situation compararableo the collapse of the lehman brothers. this is true. i a also do not plan to liken t

kumamoto earthquake to a major earthquake and use that as a reason for this postponement. that kind of politicking would be very discourteous to those who are working hard to recover from the earthquake. therefore, this repeatedly postponement of the tax hike is a different decision that i have made, different from the promise that i have made before. i accept the fact that some criticize this as a violation of our policy promise. taxation has a big impact on the economy. if i am to make a new decision,

a different decision, then based on the fact that taxation is the foundation for democracy, of course, i should only execute this after seeking public approval. without conviction, i would not make this decision. without the people's support, our government cannot work. the upper house elections will be a national election, over my new decision and it is through this election that i would like to seek the public's approval. because i am seeking the public's approval, my goal will be to havee our ruling coalitio win the majority of contested

seats. this is a very ambitious goal because we would need to win more seats than we had prior to the election. the opposition bloc has decided to put aside their policy differences purely for the sake of the election, and they are consolidatating their candidate. this will be a very difficult election for us. and we are prepared to meet that challenge. however, during this election, with the ruling bloc, the ldp and the komeito party, we would like to win the majority of seats. thereby get public approval and submit related bills in the autumn, extraordinaryry sessionf parliament to further accelerate

abenomics. that is my resolve. nine years ago when i was prime minister we suffered a major defeat in the summer upper house elecections. after that, i resigned from my post as prime minister. that failure is something that is still etched in my heart. the more difficult the policy, the more important it is to get public understanding so that we can move forward hand in hand with the japanese citizens. that is the only way forward. and that is the lesson that i learn learned. based on this lesson, over the last three years i have been fully committed to national

politics. the general election four years ago, the upper house election three years ago, and the general election a year and a half ago. through these elections, thanks to the great support from the japanese public, we were able to accelerate abenomics. as a result, the atmosphere of our times has truly changed dramatically. although we are still only halfway done, employment has grown for sure. and income has also gone up. we must continue to take powerful steps to further advance and continue down this road. we must not allow ourselves to go backwards and fall into that stagnant times again.

with the world economy facing this risk, let us envision a rocket surging out of the atmosphere. and in a similar fashion we must fully ab seccelerate the abenom engine to the maximum. we must, with even greater speed, overcome deflation. in order to do so, once more we need the support and the momentum of our people. i would like to ask for the understanding and support of the japanese public. nhk's political commentator joins us now for his analysis. massa, what are some of the takeaways from abe's news conference? >> first he explained why he decided to postpone the consumption tax hike. he emphasized that last week at the ise-shima summit the group

of 7 leaders shared a sense of crisis about the global economy. he said japan needs to do all it can to contribute to g global economic growth. and d in order to o do that the prime minister feels anything that does not contribute to economic growth has to be put on the back burner. and that's exactly where the consumption tax hike is going. there are concerns over the possible impact the delay could have on plans to expand social security programs and on efforts to restore fiscal health. abe is aware of that. he said, while postponing the tax hike he'll accelerate his economy policy and increase tax revenue in order to deal with the impact of the delay. >> there was some speculation that japan would face two elections this summer, but it seems that won't be the case. why do you think that is? >> some people thought that we have elections in the upper and lower house this summer, as you said.

in japan,n, that's referred to a double election. there is already an election scheduled for the upper house, and people were waiting to see if abe would dissolve the lower house and hold a snap election. a double election is seen as working in favor of the ruling coalition. reason being, for opposition parties it takes a lot of cooperation to agree on which candidate should run against the ruling coalition. there is a lot of room for disagreement. the ruling coalition does not have that kind of problem so much because it has usually more people already chosen. a handful of party members who were close to abe recommended that he go ahead with elections for both houses, even though there is a risk of losing the coalition's two-thirds majority in the lower house. on the other hand, some members said it is not good timing because people are still dealing with the after math of the kumamoto earthquake in southern japan. abe, of course, decided to hold

off. plus, there is the fact that others seem to be enjoying higher publicbq

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