IMF’s Lagarde says Japan should raise sales tax as planned: MOF official

TOKYO (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde called on Japan to proceed with a sales tax hike to 10 percent as planned next year, calling it a vital step for fiscal reform, a Japanese Ministry of Finance official told reporters.

Lagarde made the remark during a meeting with Finance Minister Taro Aso on Thursday. She was in Japan for meetings with Aso and other Japanese policymakers for the IMF’s “Article 4” annual consultations on economic policy.

Lagarde was also quoted as saying that attention should be paid to the tax hike’s expected impact on the economy, given that the last increase, to 8 percent in 2014, triggered a downturn.

Aso told Lagarde that Japan would proceed with the tax hike as planned in October 2019, the MOF official told reporters after the meeting.

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