Japan govt plans to raise minimum wage to boost economy: draft

[TOKYO] Japan's government plans to raise the minimum wage and wages paid to other workers to meet its target of raising nominal gross domestic product to 600 trillion yen in five years, a draft of economic stimulus measures showed on Monday.

The government will also offer some financial support to people living off their pensions to bolster consumer spending, a copy of the draft obtained by Reuters showed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government will reward companies that invest in plants and equipment that improve energy efficiency, and encourage capital expenditure by small firms, the draft showed.

The government will also provide a timeframe for lowering the corporate tax rate below 30 percent to improve competitiveness, the draft showed.

Economics Minister Akira Amari will present the draft at a meeting of the government's top advisory panel on Tuesday. Mr Abe's government is due to finalise economic stimulus measures by the end of this month.

REUTERS