Japan advisers propose delaying primary surplus target to after FY2020

[TOKYO] Influential private-sector members of Japan's top advisory panel will propose on Thursday that the government delay its time frame for achieving a primary budget surplus to some time after fiscal 2020/21, a draft obtained by Reuters showed.

The private-sector members of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will also ask the government to spend as little as possible on fiscal stimulus in any extra budget it compiles, the draft showed.

The government should also make changes to the tax code to encourage capital expenditure and higher wages, the members will say, according to the draft.

The private-sector members' thinking is considered close to that of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and their proposals often become official government policy.

REUTERS