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(Bloomberg) — The Bank of Japan shouldn’t raise interest rates again before March next year, according to Yuichiro Tamaki, a key potential ally for Japan’s weakened government.
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The central bank needs to closely examine the results of next year’s wage deal results before moving on policy again, Tamaki told Bloomberg in an interview Friday.
“Until we achieve nominal wage growth 2% above inflation, we should continue with monetary easing and proactive fiscal spending,” Tamaki said. “We are still in a very important phase, trying to get out of the 30 years of deflation, so we want to make that our top priority first. We will avoid any increase in the burden on people.”
The initial results of annual wage negotiations usually come out in early March. The outcome this year was a major factor behind the BOJ’s historic move to end its negative rate and scrap its stimulus program. Tamaki said particular attention should be paid to wage deals at smaller firms.
The DPP leader added that the BOJ shouldn’t compile policy with the intention of affecting foreign exchange rates. The bank’s decision to raise rates in July has been criticized by some observers as a response to renewed weakness in the yen.
Tamaki’s party is in the middle of policy negotiation with the ruling coalition, which suffered a crushing loss in Sunday’s election, leaving Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba looking for allies to shore up his government.
So far Ishiba hasn’t formalized a deal with any of the opposition parties to join the ruling coalition. To win a vote for the premiership likely on Nov. 11 he will need most parties to back their own leaders in each voting round, as they have stated they will, rather than coordinate votes to oust him.
Still, the premier needs support from outside the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito ruling coalition to get a promised extra budget through the lower house among other initiatives. Failure to show his government can move forward with policy would quickly endanger his position.
While the DPP chief has repeatedly said he won’t join a coalition with Ishiba’s party, he has said he’s willing to cooperate if they can agree on policies.
Tamaki’s top priority is to raise the ceiling on tax-free incomes so that part-time workers can earn more. The DPP plan is to push up the ceiling from ¥1.03 million ($6,700) to ¥1.78 million to encourage part-timers to take on more work, which by extension will stimulate spending and activity in the economy.