TOKYO – Last April, Japan’s government implemented a long-planned consumption-tax hike, from 5% to 8%, the first in a two-step increase that is expected to bring the rate to 10% by 2015. The hike – a key feature of “Abenomics,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s three-pronged strategy to revive Japan’s economy – signals the government’s long-term commitment to fiscal consolidation.
东京—去年4月，日本政府实施了计划已久政策，将消费税从5%提高到8%，这是到2015年将该税率提高到10%的两步计划的第一步。此次增税是首相安倍晋三为重振日本经济而提出的三管齐下战略—— “安倍经济学”的关键部分，表明了政府对财政整合的长期承诺。但它也给日本宏观经济带来了重创。