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TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters): Japan's 5 per cent consumption tax will have to be raised by the next prime minister after Junichiro Koizumi's term ends next September, Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said today.
Koizumi has vowed not to raise the consumption tax while he is prime minister.
Japan's previous sales tax hike in 1997, from 3 per cent, choked off consumer spending and helped to send the economy into decline.
Asked if Japan's next leader would need to raise the tax, Tanigaki said: "Yes, I think so."
"Whoever (the next prime minister) may be, the move will be unavoidable," he said on Fuji Television. He made similar comments separately on a programme on TV Asahi.
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