Outrage Over Japanese Prime Minister’s Proposed Salary Increase Amidst Rising Prices and Declining Support

Prices are rising, social insurance premiums are rising, wages are not rising, and Japanese people are breathless. The Kishida cabinet proposed a “surprising bill” to raise the salaries of cabinet members, which attracted public attention.

On the 2nd, Kishida Fumio announced a large-scale economic growth stimulus plan. But some commentators bluntly said that Kishida’s real purpose is to salvage his declining support. However, some foreign media bluntly stated that the support rate should still be unable to increase.

At the Extraordinary Diet held on October 20, the Kishida Cabinet proposed an amendment to the “Law Concerning the Wages of Employees in Special Positions” to the cabinet member salary increase bill. If this bill is passed, the Prime Minister will receive a salary increase of approximately 460,000 yen per year, and the ministers will receive a salary increase of approximately 320,000 yen.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida discussed the bill at the Senate Budget Committee on the morning of November 1.

This is the first increase in the salary of cabinet members in eight years since 2015. The content of this bill is to increase the salary of national civil servants in general positions and to increase the salary of special positions in accordance with the advice of the Personnel Council in August this year. However, the advice of the Personnel Council does not mention “special positions”, so the salaries of cabinet members will not be automatically increased in line with “ordinary positions”. It is up to the Kishida cabinet to decide whether to introduce a bill to raise the salaries of cabinet members.

Although the prime minister and ministers return 30% and 20% of their salaries to the national treasury respectively. The annual income of a member of parliament is about 22 million yen. But if you are a cabinet member, your annual salary is as high as 40 million yen, so it is not so low that it is necessary to increase your salary.

Why is it a “surprising bill”? It turns out that Japan has a bumper tax harvest this year, and Fumio Kishida plans to return the increased revenue to the people. Those who pay more taxes will pay a one-time reduction of 40,000 yen, which translates into a monthly reduction of only 3,333 yen. Under such a background, the public will not accept it if they take the lead in raising their own wages.

Shun Otonkita, Chairman of the Political Consultative Committee of the Japan Reform Association, questioned Kishida about the bill: “Prime Minister, what a pity. It sent the wrong message to the people. In any case, I don’t think the Prime Minister is doing it for 6,000 per month. This bill was proposed only when wages in Japanese yen are high. But what do the people think? Wages cannot keep up, and the burden of social insurance premiums is very heavy. Just this month, the basis for calculating social insurance premiums has changed. I think many people see wages Bill, found that social insurance premiums increased, and the amount received decreased. Leaving aside the citizens, the Prime Minister raised the salary himself, and the monthly salary alone reached 72,000 yen a year. It was more than the amount of subsidies. In this way, no big gain could be obtained. It is understood by the majority of the public. I think the wage increase bill should be revised or cancelled. Please give me your opinion.”

Kishida looked at the paper at hand and said flatly: “I heard that the salary of civil servants in special positions is adjusted according to the salary standards of civil servants in ordinary positions. You pointed out that this will arouse the distrust of the people. However, we must avoid incurring the distrust of the people. trust.”

He continued, “Regardless of the law, regarding the salary of cabinet ministers, as the cabinet continues to promote fiscal reforms, 30% of the salary of the prime minister and 20% of the salary of the ministers will be returned to the national treasury. So, even if the prime minister follows the law With an annual increase of 460,000 yen, the refund amount will be 12.18 million yen. Even if the minister’s salary increases by 320,000 yen, the refund amount will be 5.92 million yen.”

Kishida’s answer was almost like saying, “Since the salary has been returned, it doesn’t matter if the salary is increased slightly.”

Although it is refunded, even if the Prime Minister’s salary is discounted by 30, his annual income will increase by 300,000 yen. Kishida’s decision sparked outrage online. “Achieve a salary increase, achieve a salary increase, is Fumio Kishida talking about himself?” “I’m sick of working and paying taxes for Kishida’s salary.” “I almost cried when I saw the news that Kishida only gave himself a salary increase. Japan It’s over.” “People who work hard are living a difficult life in pain, but they still need to raise their own wages? How far do they have to fool the people before they give up?” “Kishida only raises his own wages. How shameless is this? ? If you don’t listen to the voice of the people, you will only get scolded!”

On the eve of his visit to Southeast Asia, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on the 2nd that in order to boost the economy and help families whose lives have been affected by inflation, they have decided to launch another large-scale economic growth stimulus plan. But political commentators bluntly stated that Kishida’s real purpose is to salvage his declining support.

Kishida pointed out that the implementation of various new measures will cost at least 17 trillion yen, about 113.2 billion U.S. dollars, including the impact of tax cuts and other costs. There is also an expenditure amount of approximately 13.1 trillion yen, or approximately US$87.1 billion, which will be dealt with through the supplementary budget.

Kishida said that Japan is currently entering the new economic development stage for the first time in the past 30 years. The most important thing is to strengthen the profitability of Japanese companies and thus become a source of salary increases for employees. More policy details are scheduled to be released after the afternoon of the 2nd.

Japanese media pointed out that of the entire expenditure, there are two parts that the outside world is more concerned about. One is the income tax reduction for the salaried class and the tax rebate project for housing, with a total amount of approximately 3.5 trillion yen. The other is to subsidize low-income households, which will cost at least 1 trillion yen.

Bloomberg believes that Japan will introduce this new measure because Kishida has been criticizing the Kishida government for its inaction in order to appease local people who are dissatisfied with rising inflation. Prices in Japan have risen a lot in recent years. Even if office workers have received a salary increase, the amount has been eaten up by the increase in inflation.

Although the amount of spending in this stimulus package is smaller than previous expenditures during the new crown epidemic, it is more than double the external estimates compiled by Bloomberg in October. According to the preliminary plan of the Japanese government, fiscal expenditure will reach 21.8 trillion yen.

Research unit S&P Global Market Intelligence believes that some people who don’t like tax refunds think that tax refunds are only temporary. Many people will save money first to pay the tax on expensive ginseng in the future.

S&P Global Market Intelligence also doubts that the impact of Japan’s repayment of taxes to the people this time would be worse than directly sending money to everyone, so that they can actually get free money. Bloomberg said that even if Kishida Fumio released this large-scale stimulus plan, the support rate should still not be able to increase.

According to polls conducted last week by Nikkei and ANN, two Japanese media outlets, Kishida’s approval rating has dropped to the lowest level in his two years as prime minister. The former survey result was 33%, and the latter was 26.9%. Nikkei pointed out that about two-thirds of the respondents have opinions on the above-mentioned income tax reduction policy.

Japanese media reported that the income tax reduction amount this time is 30,000 yen per person, and the residential tax rebate is 10,000 yen per person. However, I am afraid it will not be implemented until June 2024. With little relief, for many Japanese families whose livelihoods are overwhelmed by inflation every day, it can be said to be a kind of suffering that can be seen but cannot be eaten.

S&P Global Market Intelligence believes that for Japanese families, a real salary increase for office workers would be the biggest help. The Japanese government should now focus on helping local companies create an environment that makes it easy to raise wages.

For decades, in order to get rid of the entanglement of deflation, the Japanese government has relied on borrowing large amounts of money to rescue the economy in a low-interest environment. But whether the economy can grow as Japan hopes in the future still seems to be a question mark. What’s more, the Bank of Japan may also change the current ultra-loose monetary policy, and the Japanese government will be burdened with even heavier debts.

According to statistics from the IMF (International Monetary Fund), so far, the amount of debt owed by the heavily indebted Japanese government is equivalent to 2.55 times its own economic growth. Among developed countries, Japan ranks first.

Bloomberg pointed out that although this new plan to stimulate economic growth has been introduced, Kishida has not clearly stated the sources of funds required for urgent issues such as the surge in military expenditures and how to solve low birth rates. . In addition to boosting the currently weak demand, the Japanese government also hopes that the country will be strong in the future, such as encouraging domestic companies to invest in and develop the semiconductor industry.

deepthroat

**Blog articles are written at your own responsibility and do not represent the position of our company**

Although the EU attempts to prove its influence and unity on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, internal officials believe that the EU’s efforts are just “navel gazing”.

“Who needs the EU’s ‘irrelevant’ Gaza peace plan? Of course, the EU itself.” Politico News Network’s European version reported on the 2nd with this rather joking title.

Since the new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Europe’s efforts to mediate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have often achieved half the result with half the effort. The EU summit that ended on the 27th of last month reached a consensus on calling for the opening of humanitarian corridors and a temporary humanitarian ceasefire. However, it was revealed by the media that the summit spent five hours struggling with the singular and plural of “pauses for humanitarian needs”. form.

It is reported that Spain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, insists on using odd numbers, but countries such as Austria and the Czech Republic are worried that the suspension of odd numbers means that Israel will not fight back, which will benefit the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). In the end, Spain accepted the use of the plural wording on the condition that other member states agreed to hold an “international peace conference” on the conflict at an optional date, a call that was also reflected in the final statement.

The European version of Politico News Network stated that this is the latest attempt by the group to influence the situation in the Middle East following a series of public disagreements among senior EU officials on how to deal with the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. However, the latest report from the media on the 2nd revealed that one week after the leaders of the 27 EU countries issued this call, key questions about where this “international peace conference” will be held, who will attend and the goals of the conference have still not been answered.

According to reports, a spokesman for the Israeli mission to the EU said that so far, no European officials have contacted Israel about this initiative, and Israel cannot confirm whether the country will send representatives to participate, “because we don’t know yet. What does this actually mean”. The Palestinian mission to the EU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The European version of Politico News Network said that because this topic is very sensitive, EU diplomats have privately told them that the EU’s struggle over the wording of the statement itself shows that the so-called mediation efforts on the Palestinian-Israeli issue are just EU leadership. People are “navel gazing” by pandering to domestic audiences angered by conflict rather than making serious efforts to achieve peace.

An EU diplomat who asked not to be named revealed that multiple European countries are competing behind the scenes for the opportunity to host this “international peace conference.” But the diplomat believes: “As long as it is not clear whether this is what the region wants, the whole discussion about location is silly and irrelevant.”

According to reports, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez pushed for more ambitious language on the “international peace conference” at the EU summit. He claimed that an “international peace conference” could resolve decades of conflict. European Council President Michel also believed that calling for a peace conference demonstrated the “unity” within the EU.

But other EU countries are critical. Two EU diplomats believe Sanchez’s move is an attempt to consolidate support among left-wing pro-Palestinian parties in the country as he seeks to build a new governing coalition in the coming months.

“This is a typical internal EU discussion that has nothing to do with the reality on the ground,” an EU official said. “To be honest, the United States has influence (on the Palestinian-Israeli issue), as do some Gulf countries, but we No – even if we were all on the same page internally, let alone we are not. The EU’s arrogance in thinking we can make a difference here is classic arrogance.”

The report pointed out that German Chancellor Scholz also expressed a hint of doubt about the role of the conference. He said the peace conference was a “good signal”, but added that “such an initiative can only work and become a reality if all other equally important people are involved”. Politico News Network interpreted that, in other words, without the participation of Israel, Palestine and other relevant parties, any peace conference will be in vain.

This is considered to reflect the limitations of the EU’s diplomatic capabilities. The report mentioned that the EU’s call for a peace conference was confusing after a public rift between European Commission President von der Leyen, European Council President Michel and the EU’s top diplomat Borrell over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It makes people feel that the EU is powerless on the Middle East issue.

#Fumio #Kishida #gave #salary #increase #yen #Netizens #bit #thickskinned
2023-11-03 04:57:27