Japan to delay Consumption Tax rise

Japan’s premier, Shinzo Abe, is expected to announce that the planned rise from 8% to 10% in Consumption Tax is to be delayed.  A formal announcement is expected at the end of May.

This rise was scheduled for April 2017, but slowing growth has put it in doubt.

The rise had already been delayed once. It is the second rise as part of Abe’s economic turnaround plan. The first, from 5% to 8%, was made in 2014.

These rises are part of a plan to help fund a spiraling social security bill as the Japanese population ages.