Japan Govt Urged to Lead Wage Hikes

   Tokyo, July 28 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government should take the lead so that the country's economy can achieve wage hikes that outpace inflation, nongovernmental members of a key panel said Monday.
   The members made the proposal at a meeting of the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy held to discuss a fiscal 2026 budget outline.
   "We must strengthen the growth potential all over the country to defeat deflation and ensure the transition to a growth-oriented economy," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, head of the council, told the meeting.
   "We will draw up a well-balanced budget by allocating necessary funds to important policy areas while maintaining spending reform efforts" in order not to affect market confidence, he added.
   The nongovernmental members said the government should appropriately reflect price movements in its budget by reviewing standard prices adopted by publicly financed institutions, raising government-administered prices and having prices for public orders reflect increased labor costs.

(2025/07/28-19:20)

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